


Embers

by CeleryThesis



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-01-27 15:17:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 49,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1715246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeleryThesis/pseuds/CeleryThesis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some non-chronological one-offs related to Burnin' Down the House.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction and is not a reflection of the lives and relationships of the real people.

October 2015

Manhattan

 

Meryl sat in the back of the restaurant. She had ordered a bottle of wine and was enjoying the first glass.  It was nice to have the sommelier cater to her, opening the bottle for her, offering her a sample taste, rather than deferring to a male companion.  She wondered how that was handled for lesbian couples.  Or gay men, for that matter.  She thought about texting Jeremy.

Maks came in five minutes after the wine had been served.  He was straight from the airport and still dressed as if he were in LA, chilly in New York October.  She had abandoned her grad school uniform of jeans and a black top for a short black dress, thick, opaque black tights and bronze wedges.  She even did her hair (out of a messy bun for the first time in a week) and make-up.

He strode over to her and she stood to greet him.  He embraced her and kissed the side of her face.  They didn't get much attention in New York, but they were still a little bit careful.  He held her out by one arm.

"You look gorgeous, Babe."

"Thank you, all for you," she teased him and kissed him lightly on the mouth before they sat.

He held the bottle of wine and read the label.  "Wow, good choice."

"Thanks.  I've been devoting five minutes a day to wine blogs."

He laughed because he knew she wasn't joking.

"Did you order?"

"Yes.  Grilled chicken, steamed veggies, salad for you; grilled eggplant, pasta, salad for me.  We can share."

"Sounds good."

"Do you have your list?"

"Yes, but explain this to me again.  Why can't we just do this at home?"

"Because every time we try to talk at home we end up in bed."

"Yes, I'm not seeing a problem."

"Of course not, but I want to get these things settled.  We need to get them out, to talk about them.  Last week was a disaster."

"Okay."  He pulled a piece of paper out of his bag.  Airline stationary, Meryl noticed.

"You have an actual list!  I'm so proud.  Charlie always just made things up on the fly," she told him.

"Charlie?"

"We always sat down after competitions and went over our worry lists.  I had mine in advance, and then I would write down Charlie's while we were talking.  I have them all on my phone, if you want to see them.  Every time I upgrade, I transfer my notes."

"So this is _our_ worry lists?"

"Not exactly."  The waiter brought their salads, and she was quiet until he left.

"Although, I did think about doing lists with you after...Abby Lee Miller week on the show.  Then I realized the lists would be 1) Don't freak out.  2) Don't get eliminated. "

"So not worry lists?"  He looked at her indulgently, like _you're such a nut, but I love you_.

"Maks.  No.  Issues.  Lists of issues and concerns.  Things to talk about before we commit the rest of our lives together."

"Okay.  You go first."

"Fine." She found her list on her phone. "Babies."

"Yes."  He answered.

"Baby timetable," she elaborated.

"That was my first one, too!  Ideally, your pills run out in December and you don't take them any more." He looked at her.

" _In_ an ideal world, I would want to wait until I was completely finished with school and a year or two into my career.  That would be six or seven years from now.  BUT," she went on to mitigate the face he was giving her, "I know that is too long for you to wait.  What about after I get my masters?  If all goes well, that would be May of 2017. So, what, twenty months or so from now?"

"What is the next career step after this?  Doctorate?"

"Ideally."

"And you can have a baby while getting one?"

"Well, yes."

"May 2017 is fair."  He pulled out a pen and made a note on his list.

"What are you doing?" Her surprise was clear.

"Writing down what we decide.  What else is the point?"

"You, I like." She poured them both more wine. "Okay, your turn."

"Okay, I'm going to skip down here" he read from his list like he was reading aloud in school. "What will you study if you run out of Italian books written by women five hundred years ago?"

"I won't run out."

"Good."  He made a note.  "Your turn."

"Where will we live?" She read.

"You'll keep the apartment until the lease is up, and then either move in with me or we get a place in Manhattan or Brooklyn, not that we will be able to get much."

"Yeah, but long term.  You are tied to the east coast, right?  So when I apply for schools next time, I will just apply around here."

"How is that a point of dispute?  That sounds great.  Are you just fishing for me to give in somewhere down your list?" The waiter took their salad plates.

"Very, very astute, Chmerkovskiy.  Your turn."

"Why do I feel like I'm walking right into a trap?  Okay," again with the read aloud voice, "You want to be a college professor. Other than teach and write, what does a college professor do?  What is expected of the spouse of a college professor?"

"Great one!  Yes, that's is my ultimate goal.  Other than teaching and writing, I would have to do research, some in Europe, so that would be fun.  I would advise students, probably, sit on university committees, and yeah, you know, write and teach.  As for the spouse question, I don't know.  There's the stereotypical cocktail party image of professors and spouses, but that is probably somewhat outdated though it sounds charming, right?  You would be amazing at faculty cocktail parties. I don't know, though, they all have Twitter accounts now and probably drink micro-brews. Times have changed."

The waiter put their plates in front of them and they divided up their meals so they each had half of both.  Maks picked up his pen again.

"Twitter accounts and micro-brews," he finished writing. "Got it. Next."

"Okay, here's a lighter one:  will you be disappointed if my boobs don't get any bigger when I am pregnant?"

"There is no way that is on your phone," he grabbed the phone and read "Will you be disappointed if my boobs..." He handed the phone back.  He twisted his mouth slightly and side-eyed.

"That's what I thought!" She smacked him in the arm. "Well, Cheryl says hers got smaller, so sucks to be you, buddy."

"As long as we have the Priscilla bra we will be okay." He took an innocuous bite of chicken. 

"That sucker is in the vault with the gold medal.  Okay, your turn."

"That's it for me."

"Really? Okay."

"I reserve the right to have follow-ups," his attention was much more on his dinner than the conversation at this point.

"Noted.  My next one is, how will you handle it when your family tells you we're not doing whatever it is the right way." She looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, when they are upset because I'm working instead of staying home with babies or if you want to do something other than dance or run studios?"

"I would certainly listen to what they have to say.  I respect my parents more than anyone on earth, and that's not going to change.  They really like you, by the way, I don't know why you are so suspicious of them."

"Maks, It's not that I'm suspicious of them.  I like them and respect them, too. It's just...I think it's realistic that they aren't going to agree with some of the choices that I, hopefully that we, make."

"Your parents probably won't, either.  What are you going to say to them when they tell you I need anger management because of something I do on TV or, you know, at their house."

"I will tell them that there are different ways to express anger and sometimes it's better to get it out rather than giving someone the silent treatment for two days."

"That's a good answer!"

They sat quietly for a few moments and ate.  Meryl looked around the restaurant at other couples having dinner.  There was an extensive bar at the front with a worldly looking, but cute bartender.  The music they were playing sounded like French folk.  This place was only three blocks from her apartment.  Meryl smiled.

"Meryl, ultimately, you will be my family, hell, you already are.  I will never knowingly disrespect my parents, but I'll never disrespect you, either. Give them some credit, though, they just want what's best for us."

"I am conceding that point."

"Because I am right?"

"Because I'm ready to go."  She pushed her plate away, looked at him and smiled.

He payed the check, and they gathered up their bags and headed out into the autumn air.  He put his arm around her and she snuggled into him.

"Homework tonight?" He asked her.

"Yeah, but not for hours."

He kissed her head and smiled.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the epilogue to Yet Another Brick, I wrote about Meryl and Charlie at 34 preparing a show program to be performed at a gala honoring Marina. It was nothing more than a plot device to get the two together. They end up drinking tequila, having a lot of sex, falling in love and skating a program reminiscent of their romantic exhibitions, which returns them emotionally to training for the Olympics. Meryl takes a whole week off of work in Texas and they act like the single people that they are in that universe.
> 
> I decided to rewrite the story in the Burnin' Down the House epilogue B universe. Meryl and Charlie both have two children each, and Meryl can't afford to take a week off because she has to reserve her sick days for the potential illnesses of her children. Instead of a romantic ballad, they choose to skate to The Waters of March sung by Susannah McCorkle, which is poignant to them because of its theme of time marching on and how every day things bring us the most joy.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MNknFy2gdQ

 

 

**Early September 2021**

 

 **Charlie** 12:45  What do you think?

 **Meryl** 2:32  Sorry, had a class.  About?

 **Charlie**   2:40  The Marina Gala

 **Meryl**   2:42  It's October?

 **Charlie** 2:43  Tapes the 25th

 **Meryl**   2:44  Birthday week!

 **Charlie**   2:45 Don't remind me.

 **Meryl**   2:45  Yeah, 34 is soooooo old.

 **Charlie**   2:46  ;)  Anyway, what do you think?

 **Meryl** 2:48  Well, we definitely have to do it.  Let's put something together. Call me Saturday and we'll talk about it.

 **Charlie**   2:49  Sounds good.

 

Meryl made friends with the Rutgers hockey coach and was able to piggyback off the team's ice time.  She went from skating for fun once a week to training for an hour and a half every day.  She and Charlie put the program together over the phone.  She wouldn't be able to get to Detroit until the twenty-fourth so she implored him over the phone to fly to New Jersey for a weekend in October.

"Meryl, I can't leave Tanith with a three year old and a six month old for a weekend.  I'll end up divorced."

"I'll call Jacqui and ask her if she'll help Tanith."

"Then I'll really be divorced," he laughed.

"Okay, I'll call Cheryl.  She'll be happy to babysit.  Tanith can have a spa day."

"As if Jacqui would let Cheryl babysit without her."

"Come on, Chuck, I need you."

He relented and took the first Friday of October off and left for New Jersey. 

 

**New Brunswick, New Jersey**

**Charlie**

 

Charlie watched her at the window of the door to the classroom she was teaching in.  He could hardly hear her, but she was talking in an animated manner with a little smile on her face.  She was wearing  a short, black skirt and a flowy white top with a colorful scarf around her shoulders. Her hair was up and fastened with a large gold clip.  She was wearing pink sling-backs with small heels.  Had motherhood banished the six inch wedges? Maybe they just weren't in style.  Tanith almost never wore heels these days.  She glanced over and saw him in the window.  A huge grin took over her face, and she waved him in.

"This is my friend, Charlie White.  Be nice to him; he has a very stressful job.  He's the city attorney of Detroit."

She finished the point she was making about a painting she was projecting on the wall and how it related to whatever they were reading and then told the class not to be too disappointed, but they were dismissing ten minutes early that Friday afternoon. The class wasted no time exiting, but two young women stayed behind and approached them self-consciously. 

"Professor Davis, can we get a picture with you and Charlie?"

"Of course."

"We watched you win the gold medal."

"Please don't tell us how old you were," Charlie laughed.

"Okay?" The other girl said.

They took turns each getting their picture with the partners and then left.

"Charlie, your hair!"  Meryl ruffled it.

"Yeah, I figured I'd grow it out for the gala. I'm getting a lot of grief for it at work."

"I bet Tanith loves it."

"No complaints there, no."

"Let me grab my stuff out of my office, and we'll go down to the rink."

Meryl's office was small, but it had a large window. It was immaculately neat.  There was a framed picture of him and Meryl at his wedding, as well as a picture of her and Maks from their own.  She had a nice picture of her parents and also what he guessed was a recent preschool picture of the twins, who looked considerably older than the last time he had seen them.

She dropped her books and grabbed her gym bag, and they headed to the rink. The Jersey fall was beautiful and it was an easy walk from the humanities building where her office was.

The hockey team was having an off-season practice and Meryl and Charlie headed into the locker rooms to change.  When Meryl emerged about five minutes after Charlie, he was amazed at how similar she looked to the last time he saw her in training clothes, which had to have been... _Stars on Ice_ 2015?  They had skated together occasionally at Christmas, but just for fun and usually in their jeans.

They practiced the lifts on the floor while the team finished up and the coach resurfaced the ice for them.  Charlie held out his had and she placed hers on top and they took the ice.

Some of their skills were very rusty, but they skated together like they never stopped.  They practiced the elements for about an hour and then ran it through twice with the music.

"Well, that doesn't suck," Charlie said as they exited.  Meryl laughed.

"The house is about seven blocks from here.  Did you take a cab from the airport?"

"Yeah, seven blocks is nice! Is the preschool close, too?"

"Yep, on campus.  Maks is picking them up, and then they usually go to the park. We'll beat them home by..." Meryl checked her phone, "about half an hour."

The house was big and old and looked like a bit of a work in progress, very much like his house in Detroit. They entered through the back door.  Meryl had to intercept the dog before they could enter.

"Charlie!  We're home, we're home, boy!"  Meryl took the golden retriever's face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth.  "Good boy!"

"I haven't forgiven you for this," The non-dog Charlie said.

Meryl was still crouched with dog Charlie.  "Look at this face!  How could we not name him Charlie?" She turned back to the dog, who _was_ rather beautiful,  "Love that boy! Look, here's person Charlie, shake his hand."  Charlie shook Charlie's hand.  Meryl let the dog out in the back yard and then led person Charlie into the kitchen, which was big and modern.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Meryl asked as she was putting water in the dog's bowl and refilling his food dish. 

"Just water." Charlie sat down at the kitchen table while she pulled a water jug out of the fridge and poured him a glass.  There were three bottles of very good wine on the table.  Charlie was suddenly looking very forward to dinner.

"I'm going to throw your bag in the guest room.  There's a bathroom right over there," she told him. She returned to the kitchen and turned on the large professional looking oven. She selected four large sweet potatoes for the vegetable bin and started scrubbing them at the sink. She pricked them with a fork and placed them in the oven, and then moved on to preparing the salad while they talked.

"Maks is going to put something on the grill," she told him. "There are some impressive looking butcher paper packages in the fridge."

"Maks does the shopping?"

"Most of it," she laughed.

"Well, isn't he domestic!"

"He always was, really.  He drives to Fort Lee two or three times a week.  The rest of the time he works out of a studio here. He does about four or five hours a day and picks the kids up at three.  He teaches an evening class twice a week," Meryl said.

"So, he's with the kids until you get home?"

"Yep."

"Not quite a stay at home dad, but..."

"Pretty close.  Yes. Yes!" Meryl jumped and turned to face him, and looked at him like he had decoded something.  "You see the irony, right? It's lost on most of the people in my life.  The preschool here is amazing.  I drop them off at 8:30, Maks picks them up at 3:00. They're with us the rest of the time. Ugh, I've been so rude. How are yours?  Hows the baby? Jacqueline.  How did you get Tanith to name her that?"

"Jacqueline Louise.  Tanith has figured Jacqui out. In small doses they do wonderfully.  Anyway, the baby is great.  We call her Jacqsy. I can't decide if it's precious or if she'll hate us later."

"Both probably." Meryl said.

"No doubt."

There was a ruckus outside, and the rest of the Chmerkovskiys bounded into the kitchen.  Maks was carrying Andrei, who took one look at Meryl and burst into tears.

"Andrei is hurt!" Vera said and took Meryl's hand.

"Andrei was fine," Maks said as he transferred his son into Meryl's arms and kissed her on the mouth.  "Charlie!" Maks walked over as Charlie stood up to shake his hand.  Maks grabbed him into a bear hug.  Charlie really should have anticipated that.

"Kids, Uncle Charlie, remember?  Meryl asked them.  "Andrei, did you scrape your knee?"  Rhetorical questions, apparently both. She checked the cabinet. "Maks, do you know where the first aid kit is?"

"Yeah, I had it in the bathroom a couple of days ago when Andrei closed his finger in the door.  Hold on."

Meryl had Andrei on the kitchen counter and was rubbing his back and cooing in his ear.

"He fell," said Vera.

"He's going to be fine," Meryl told her.  Maks returned with the kit and handed it to Meryl.

"Val's coming for dinner.  He's dying to see this one," Maks indicated Charlie.

"Okay, would you put another potato in?  Andrei, you're fine.  Here you go." Meryl stuck a band-aid on the knee and kissed it. "All better."

"What do you say to Mama?" Maks prompted his son.

"Tank you, Mama." Andrei said quietly, not quite over his injury.

"You're welcome, Baby." She picked him off the counter and placed him gently on the floor.

Charlie took in the three year old twins. Vera was all Chmerkovskiy with big eyes, long lashes and darker complexion.  Andrei looked like a slightly darker version of Meryl's brother Clayton, with Meryl's unmistakable wide-set eyes.  Both children were striking and a bit exotic looking--very different from his blue-eyed blondies at home.

"Maybe Uncle Val and Uncle Charlie can do baths and bed, and Mama and Papa can go to a movie." Maks joked.

"Papa needs to stay and grill, and Uncle Charlie is on vacation," Meryl responded.

"How's the program coming?" Maks asked them.

"Great!" Charlie responded.

"Eh." Meryl responded.

"Are you all coming to Detroit in a few weeks for the taping?" Charlie asked them.

"Oh, yes," Meryl answered. "It will be our third flight together.  Hope for the best."

"Yeah, we barely survived our trek to Canada this year." Charlie laughed.

"I'm going to pop this and then get the grill going." Maks got a corkscrew out of a drawer and opened a bottle of wine.  It was the best sound Charlie heard all day.

"It's not too chilly, yeah?" Meryl asked her husband. "We can take our drinks out with you."

There was a play set in the backyard and the twins screeched and climbed on it while the adults drank their wine. After he started the grill, Maks pulled Meryl onto his lap.  Some things don't change.  She brought his arms around her and rubbed them absent mindedly.

Charlie had been looking for cracks in this marriage, not out of spite but out of curiosity and, honestly, commiseration. His own marriage had been on the brink of collapse, past that brink, really, but they had somehow come back. He and Tanith almost never fought, but there was an underlining tension always.  It was sometimes hot, it was often sad.  He didn't sense the same here, but he was curious to know what is was like when the elder Chmerkovsiys were around.

"You must love being in walking distance of so much.  Walking home from the rink...was almost surreal, I gotta say," Charlie sat back in his chair.

"Yeah, it's great," Maks said.

"You should have an ice rink in downtown Detroit.  Get on that, city attorney!" Meryl teased Charlie.

"As you can imagine, we have more pressing needs."

Meryl jumped off of Maks's lap to go watch the pleading children on the slide, and Val came in through the gate. "Charlie!" Val jogged over to him and enveloped him in a hug.  "Hey, man, your hair looks great! Growing it out?"

"For the gala," Charlie answered.

"Man, that takes me back. Eight years ago?"

"I know, hard to believe."

Andrei, Vera and Charlie the dog attacked Val.  Val scooped up both kids, one in each arm and kissed Charlie on the snout. "Charlie, meet Charlie."

"Yes, we've met.  I'm getting a cat as soon as I get home and naming her Meryl, just so I can shout, 'Bad Meryl! Don't pee on the bed!'"

"That's fair," laughed Meryl.

They ate inside and afterward, the brothers took care of bedtime so that Meryl and Charlie could talk.

"I wish I could offer dessert, but we have nothing sweet in the house. I could slice an apple?"

"That's okay.  I've lost eight pounds since summer." Charlie laughed.

"I've lost five.  Potential shame is the best motivator."

"I know.  People are going to expect us to look exactly the same as we did."

"Well, that's impossible, but you at least need to be able to lift me."

"Oh, come on."

"Do you ever see Marina?" Meryl asked him.

"Not often. Tanith isn't coaching at the moment, and before the baby was born, she was working at DSC with Evan.  I can't remember the last time I was Arctic Edge."

"Evan seems to be doing well."

"Yeah, he's building a great program."

"I can't imagine wanting to still be in that world.  I mean, no offense to everyone that still lives it, I give them credit but..."

"You're glad to be done; it's okay to say that." Charlie looked at her.  She was so very much that girl he had known his whole life: driven, competitive, always the perfectionist, silly, caring, easily annoyed, singularly focused, stylish, defensive, and yet she had evolved differently from him.  Taking herself out of Detroit, changing that one little variable had touched her somehow so differently, had altered her.

She poured them just a little more wine and smiled at him.

"So I talked to Scott..." He sipped the wine.

"Oh my god!  Scott and Tessa!  How did I not think of them? Charlie, holy shit, what's the matter with me? I haven't thought about them in--I have no idea! They're doing this, too then?"

"Calm down, Merle. drink your wine."

"I just...can't believe I didn't even think about Tessa and Scott.  I'm going to blame motherhood onset dementia."

"Alright, so Scott was ready to go, but Tessa won't do it."

"Reeeeaaaaalllly.  Okay, I'm very behind, but they still skate together, right?"

"Occasionally. They do some TV specials in Canada, like holiday specials. Maybe every other year?  She's in med school, though."

"I did hear that.  Well, she doesn't have time."

"Neither did you, or me, really, but we're doing it."

Meryl took a drink and looked to be pondering her words.  "Charlie, we were really lucky with our career trajectory.  Can you imagine if we had won in Vancouver and then come back only _not_ to win?  Those four years were brutal for us, I think, but can you imagine what they would be in retrospect if things didn't go the way they did in Sochi?  So yeah, I don't blame her.  It would be nice to see her though.  Is she in Toronto?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure she's working out of a hospital there."

"That's really great.  And Scott is coaching."

"Yes, Scott has not changed.  He told me they were skipping it to go easy on us."

"Of course." She laughed as she took their empty glasses to the sink and rinsed them out.  Some time after dinner when he and the guys were messing around with the twins and the dog she had managed to clean every spot of the kitchen. 

"We have the ice for most of tomorrow.  I'm going to run in the morning if you want to join.  Sorry to be a bad hostess, but I'm going to go kiss the babies and go to bed."

He stood and she walked into his arms and laid her head on his chest.  "I've missed you." He told her.

"You, I think about every day, Charlie.  Love you."

"You, too."

Val passed her in the living room.  He said goodbye to Charlie with another hug.  Charlie retired to the guestroom, glad that is was a whole house away from the master bedroom. He texted Tanith and tried to sleep.

 

**Detroit**

**Meryl**

 

Paul and Cheryl picked them up at the airport in the SUV they had bought for the grandparent life.  It had two identical car seats in the middle seat, and Cheryl insisted on sitting between the twins and talking to them the whole way back to the house.  Maks had been recognized at the airport (Meryl had not), and he was in a very good mood.

"Is that Maksim Chmerkovskiy?" Meryl gushed as they were loading all of their gear out of the vehicle. 

"The original." He said and smacked her on the ass. 

"Not in front of Grammy and Pop!" She teased him. He bent her backwards and kissed her dramatically.  "Grab the stroller, Boris." She chided.

Meryl was hoping that the twins would nap before they headed to Charlie's house in the late afternoon, but of course, they had no intention of doing so.  Meryl had Vera in one room, and Cheryl had Andrei in another and after books, back rubs, quiet songs and shameless begging, there was still no sleep.  Meryl went down to fill up the sippy cups and there was Maks and Paul drinking beer and watching college football.  She swallowed the smart remark that was building for her husband, went back upstairs and collapsed on the bed near her mother.

"Please let me get through the next thirty-six hours." She said.

"What are you worried about?"

"Let's see, looking like an idiot trying to ice dance, making small talk with people I don't miss, fawning over Marina, the kids refusing to sleep and throwing the mother of all tantrums in front of the Whites and/or the people at the rink tomorrow..."

"I don't think three years olds throwing a tantrum will be big news, but you'll get through it.  I'll stay up tonight with the twins if they won't sleep, but I bet they will.  So don't worry.  Let's just try to have fun. I would love to see your dress."

"Oh yeah, Momma.  It's gorgeous, I must say.  The costumers that work for Dance with Me did it."  Meryl ran to her room and returned with a garment bag.  She carefully unzipped it and pulled out the dress.  It was deep red, sleeveless and backless with a full skirt.  "It's supposed to look like a cocktail dress, sort of an homage to my current life."

"Oh, Meryl, it's beautiful."

They got the children ready and loaded up the vehicle again for the trip to Charlie and Tanith's house in downtown Detroit.  Her father worried about parking safely the whole time, and she was relieved to get there.  Tanith and Jacqsy met them at the door, and Meryl fell completely for the baby at first sight.  She had enormous blue eyes and looked exactly like Charlie.

Meryl gave Charlie a birthday hug and handed him over a gift bag with a Rutgers hockey jersey in it.

"I love it! They were so cool to us at the rink."

"Happy birthday! Still my favorite two months!" She gave his hair a good ruffle.

Jacqui and Cheryl immediately took the three year olds down to the basement to play, the men carried on with college football in the living room, and Tanith, Meryl and the baby settled in the kitchen.  Meryl held Jacqsy the whole time, playing with her and cooing softly in her ear. 

Big Charlie came in to grab another round of beers for the guys and yelled into the living room "Maks, you better be careful, I think your wife wants another baby."  Meryl didn't hear Maks's response, but Tanith rolled her eyes slightly behind the back of her father-in-law.

"No more babies, but if anyone could change my mind, this sweet girl could. Maks and I both still have PTSD from the twins' first year; I am not joking." Meryl told Tanith.

"Sleep issues, or?"

"They were sick all the time.  Each one had eight ear infections that first year.  That's sixteen ear infections.  We had a massive calendar in the kitchen to write down feedings and changings and such, and anti-biotic doses took it over.  One time Maks was out of town, and we had a miscommunication on the calendar.  I had no idea which one was on day three of treatment and which one was on day seven.  I had to call the doctor's office and ask which one had been seen most recently. I was afraid they were going to call child protective services."

"Well, Charlie told me the twins are potty trained, so I'm insanely jealous."

"Oh yeah, Vera trained early, bless her, and then she pretty much press ganged Andrei into it."

"I hope they shame the hell out of Chase because I'm about to lose my mind with two in diapers."

"He'll be trained before you know it, and it seems like girls are easier, so Jacqsy should be a breeze."

"With my luck, she'll be the exception."

"Tanith, are you and Ben skating in this gala? I should know this."

"No, Ben wasn't feeling it.  He would probably do it for Igor, but not really Marina."

"Yeah.  How is Ben?"

"Great, still coaching in Seattle.  He makes it here about once a year.  We skate, it's nice."

"Do you and Charlie skate much?"

"We have been lately, training for your number.  It's been fun."

"I wish you were skating tomorrow.  Who all _are_ going to skate? I hope it's not just us."

"No, all the younger teams will be there. Fedor is doing a solo."

"No!" Meryl gasped.  "I hope he's all in white, that would make my day."

"Wouldn't that be special?  He probably will be, he's like the least subtle person ever." Tanith brushed some crumbs off the table.

"Oh, I hope so."

They ate dinner at three long tables.  Meryl was too tired to eat much but she enjoyed watching this big group interact.  Jacqui and Cheryl looked as happy as they could possibly be, and Meryl got up to put her arms around each one.  They convened back to the kitchen while the men took charge of the children and the women cleaned up.  She hugged Tanith before they left.

"It was great just talking with you, I really miss you guys," Meryl told her.

"I know, I wish you were here, but I guess that won't happen."

Miracle of all miracles, the twins crashed in their beds as soon as they got back to Meryl's parents' house.  She and Maks settled into her old bed, which always felt a little elicit.

"Do you hear that silence?" Maks whispered.

"It's the best sound I've heard all day," Meryl yawned.

Maks was getting handsy under her t-shirt.  "Too tired?"

"Probably, but you can do what you want."

"I'll wake you up." And he did.

 

They had to be at Arctic Edge early.  They got their Marina fawning out of the way right off.  Charlie took the lead and did most of the heavy lifting, bless him.  They did a camera block in their workout clothes, and then left for the locker rooms to get ready.  It was eerie to be back in the rink, and inevitably reminded her of that last year of training.  She kept waiting for Tessa to come around the corner and having to make awkward conversation. Or not. 

Meryl had her hair half up in a clip, half down, similar to the way she had worn it for _Notre Dame de Paris_ , but her hair was much shorter now, falling just below her shoulders.  She put her dress on, and looked in the mirror.  Who is that old person in the locker room with the red dress?  She put a little bit more make-up under her eyes, and hoped for the best.

Charlie was wearing his favorite costume ever:  black pants, black top.  He whistled at her, "Beautiful!"

"Aw, thanks, Charlie."

The sound crew played their music to check for sound levels before they skated. 

"You just suggested this song because of the Portuguese." He teased her.

"You know me too well."

"So, is that your newest language?"

"No, but I am trying to learn Spanish.  I'm trying to read this Spanish poem in the original, and so many dancers at the studio speak Spanish.  It's my current project.  But no, you know exactly why I suggested this song, and you love it, too, don't lie."

"I do."  He took her hand and they skated out to lots of applause.  Well, that was nice.

They started with a series of progressively more difficult lifts. They did a short footwork series in hold, and then went into their signature spiral.  They looked at each other and smiled.  It came back to them beautifully.

The middle part of the dance was a modified version of the rumba compulsory pattern.  Meryl looked in Charlie's eyes and listened to the lyrics.

 

_A mile, a must_

_A thrust, a bump_

_It's the will to survive_

_It's a jolt, it's a jump._

 

They ended the program with the old Samson and Delilah lift in which Charlie swings Meryl like a wave.  Then he brought her close and spun her around and around.  They ended in an embrace.

 

_It's the promise of life_

_It's the joy in your heart._

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

November-December 2017

 

It was two days after Thanksgiving, and she really wasn't planning to test.  Her period wasn't even due until the next day, and getting a negative after negative was wearing her down.  They were just about to bump up against the six month mark of trying, and her doctor had told them they could start looking at interventions then.  But she was exhausted, and her boobs were sore.  She kept checking them; Maks was giving her the side-eye at his parents' house where they were watching football, and she was online shopping. She absolutely wasn't going to tell him she was testing; she wanted to do nothing to get his hopes up.  As soon as they got home, she reached into her drawer of shame and pulled out a test.  She had bought about a gross of them on Amazon.  Maks had seen them and just shook his head.

It was the first Thanksgiving since her competitive skating days that she hadn't spent with her parents.  They had gone west to see Clayton and his new wife.  Meryl loved her in-laws, but it wasn't the same as Thanksgiving in Michigan or having her mother help her cook here.  Meryl and Maks had bought an old house in New Brunswick that summer, and the kitchen was currently gutted and under construction, so Meryl couldn't have cooked anyway.

To add to her self-pity, Charlie and Tanith had announced Tanith's pregnancy on Thanksgiving Day; they were _so_ thankful.  Of course she was thrilled for them, but Tanith was due in May, so they must have known for two or three months.  She felt stupid about this, but she was hurt that Charlie hadn't said a word about it.  They had texted numerous times that fall. She hadn't even been sure that Charlie and Tanith were together, but clearly they were.

Rip the package, pop the cap, pee on the stick, remind yourself you are a PhD candidate, and that your worth is not wrapped up on what this test reveals, stay on the can and steel yourself for disappointment.

Except...this one was different.

"Maaaaaaaaaks!  She yelled as she was pulling up and flushing--she still had _some_ dignity.  "Maks!"

"Baby, are you okay?"  He ran in the bathroom and she thrust the test at him, didn't even take time to cap it, which is pretty disgusting.  "Oh my god, Babe, really?" He was crying before she she could say anything.  She leaned her head against him and looked at them in the mirror.  Joy.

They decided to wait until she had gone to the doctor to say anything to anyone.  Meryl realized she wouldn't be able to have any substantive conversations with her mother in the interim, she would burst with the news.  She called first thing Monday morning but there wasn't an opening until the fifteenth.  Besides, the receptionist told her with a bit of a tone, Meryl thought, they didn't need to see her this early anyway.  Well, fine.  Maks suggested that since they had to wait until the fifteenth, they might as well reveal it at Christmas.  Meryl wasn't sure if she could hold out that long, but the romantic in her loved the idea of the ultimate Christmas present for the potential grandparents. 

Maks was home from LA until March.  The flagship studio was doing a massive Christmas show this year with Cheryl Burke flying in to be the headliner--until she blew her knee out and had to have emergency surgery.  Tickets had already been sold, and no female dancer with a big enough name was available.  Val thought the solution was obvious.

"Meryl! Of course!  Everyone will want to see the return of Meryl and Maks!"

"Val, it's the end of the semester; it's my most stressful time.  I have a massive amount of work."

"Yeah," Maks said, "She can't do it."

Val looked at his brother like he had grown an extra head.  "What are you talking about?  You've been dying to get her to dance in a show.  It's the perfect solution!"

"Val, drop it." Maks left the room.

"Meryl, please think about it.  I promise we'll keep the rehearsals to one Saturday, and then the show is Wednesday night, and you'll be done. It could only be an eight hour commitment, seriously.  I don't know what else we can do.  What is his deal, anyway? All I hear is dancing with Meryl, dancing with Meryl, and now he has the perfect opportunity."

"Val."

"Meryl, please."

Meryl sighed.  "I'll talk to him."

"Thank you!"

She waited until they were home and he was settled in bed.  "You know, Elena danced all the way into her sixth or seventh month. I talked to Val, and it will just be a few hours."

"You haven't even been to the doctor yet."

"I know, but I test every day.  I'm definitely pregnant.  I feel like hell, and I want to sleep eighteen hours a day."

"More reasons why you shouldn't dance."

"Except...it would be fun."  She looked at him.  "I told Val I would talk to you--I told him I would do it just to get him out of a jam, but I started to think about it, and...it would be fun."

"It would be fun.  But..."

"Maks, I'm not going to break, the baby is not going to break, I can still move."

Maks sighed.  "It would be fun."

"I know."

They planned to do a cha cha and a foxtrot, very similar to their old standbys.  She would do one group number and rehearse for half a Saturday.  Val was thrilled when they showed up that morning, and she was ready to go. The choreography for the group number was of course impossible and she started regretting her decision about five minutes in.  She had to fake it though, or Maks would whisk her away.  She stood in the back and tried not to be overwhelmed.  Maks was on the other side of the room talking with Tony.  They, of course, did the steps perfectly the first time, just like everyone else in the room.  Val was demonstrating a lift on Nicole.  Maks wasn't paying attention.  After he had shown the group, he came over to Meryl and demonstrated again.  He swooped her off her feet and twisted her around.  Maks caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.

"Val, put her down!" He came running over.  "Are you okay?" He touched her gingerly.

"Maks, I'm fine, no big deal, seriously."

"What is the matter with you?" Val asked his brother.  Tony came over, too. 

"Man, calm down," Tony said.  "Val has lifted Meryl before." He looked at Maks with a baffled expression.

"Sorry. I'll be her partner for this part, I'll lift her."

"Bro, calm down.  Wow."  Val walked away perplexed.

"Maks, it's fine, really," Meryl told him.

Unfortunately, though, Maks now wouldn't leave her side, and she couldn't hide the fact that she was having a very hard time with some of the steps. When the cast took a break, he drilled them with her, dancing really slowly.  She still was messing up.  Tony came over to help.

"No, like this." Tony demonstrated very slowly.

Meryl tried again. Nope.

"Babe," Maks said. One word. But it was that tone! That _Use some common sense_ tone, that _We can't keep going over the same steps, Babe_ tone. The floodgates opened, and she was crying.  She was crying over dance.  Insidious pregnancy hormones had done what no Chmerkovskiy had ever been able to do before, not for lack of trying:  she was crying about this dance.

"I caaaaaaaaan't dooooooooo it." She sobbed.

Tony looked at her. "Meryl?!?"  He looked at Maks, who was scooping her into his arms and apologizing profusely. "OH MY GOD!" Tony yelled.  "You son of a bitch!" He was laughing and tears were coming into his eyes.  "Why didn't you tell me, you asshole!  Oh my god, oh my god!" He threw his arms around both of them. Meryl detangled herself from the guys and stepped to the side.

"Tony, what the hell?" Val said.  He looked at the three of them utterly confused.  They were all crying. "What is going on with you people?"

"Val," Tony said.  "Why do you think he didn't want her to dance? Why did he freak out when you touched her? Look at her, she's crying.  Think about it."

"You people are crazy," Val said.

"Val, I'm pregnant.  I haven't even told my mother yet, so please don't say..." Continuing was pointless.  Val had joined Tony and Maks, tears streaming, of course, jumping around the room and hugging like they were five and Santa had been extra generous. Meryl got out her phone and took a picture of this scene, of these three idiots that she loved so much.


	4. Chapter 4

August 2014

 

Meryl was back from Japan, and Maks flew to Michigan to spend the weekend with her before leaving for LA to meet with DWTS producers about the upcoming season. Then he would be on to India for a week to be a judge on their version of the show.

Meryl was severely jet lagged, and it was almost too hot to sleep anyway.  The couple ended up in her bathtub; they started out with beers and then moved on to popsicles.

"So, do you think they want you to be a pro, or are they offering a judging spot?"

"I think it's 50-50 either way.  They're not talking.  Lizzy is going crazy." 

Meryl snorted at this.

"Be nice."

"I am, I like Lizzy, she's very aggressive."

"That's so nice of you to say!" He bumped her the top of her leg with his toe, which she grabbed.  "You would rather I judge, right?"

"Of course. I would actually get to see you."

"Is that the only reason?" He asked her.

"No."  She smiled at him.

"I can't imagine it either." He smiled just a little bit, and it was the most adorable thing. As gracefully as possible she crawled over him to kiss him lightly on that little smile.  "What is this music?" He said in a tone that indicated that he was not really feeling it.

"Carla Bruni, don't hate, I love her."

"Okay, well after Carla, let's switch out phones."

"That's fine."

"Did what's his name put up with this?"

"You know his name, and no, I don't think I ever played Carla for him. He was never in my bathtub that I recall, either."

"That you recall?"

"Yeah, he might have been in it--I mean he obviously showered over here some, but I don't remember him ever taking a bath.  He never did with me, anyway. At least here." She splashed him a bit.

"So three years..."

"What do you want to know, Maks?"

"Okay, tell me what a break up looks like between people who are together for three years, and not really seriously.  Did I get that right?"

"I'll tell you, but then I get to ask you a similar question."

"I'm a open book, Babe."

"Yeah, right.  Okay my epic break-up.  So my life pre-Sochi: it was insane both physically and psychologically, but I felt like it was going in the right direction.  We picked up all these sponsorships, I paid off the condo, I paid off my car, we were interviewed by the _The New York Times_ and _NPR_ , we got a whole spread in _Sports Illustrated_ , we got flown to LA for Olympics press--it was going well. I felt like I was, you know, in an upward trajectory, I mean, I wasn't Maksim Chmerkovskiy famous," he splashed her back, "But, I was thinking maybe this is all going to be really good.  And then the guy I was planning to date until I went off to grad school and started my real life told me in my living room that he met someone at the gym, and that he wanted to go ahead and ask her out. So yeah."

"And this was the guy you were seeing while you were also kissing Charlie."

"That's not fair!" She laughed and got out of the tub.

"No, don't go, I'm sorry."

She wrapped a towel around herself.  "I'm going to get a couple more beers."  She returned and got back in, handing him his.

"So the question on the table..."

"Yes.  I kissed Charlie twice when I was with Fedor.  Both times at Grand Prix Finals and both times after we beat Tessa and Scott, and that is as emotionally satisfying as it gets for us, until the Olympics.  Oddly, not after Worlds, though.  And these were very tiny, brief kisses."

"I would rather you not kiss Charlie under any circumstances."

"Okay, I won't."

"Sanks."

"Do I get any more sympathy points if I mention that the woman at the gym dumping happened on one of the four days between my birthday and Nationals this year?"

"No."

"Well, alright then.  Let's hear about your most recent break-up."

"It's almost as glamorous as the woman at the gym story.  It wasn't really going anywhere, so I decided to let her down gently, and she told me it's okay, she was planning to get back with her baseball player boyfriend anyway."

"Oh, no!"

"Yeah. So that was that."

"But you're friends now?"

"Friends is a stretch.  There's no hostility."

"I'm going to turn into a prune if I stay in here any longer--let's go sit on the deck."

They dried off and threw on some shorts.  Meryl put on a Detroit Tigers t-shirt. They took their beers out back.

"So kissing aside," Maks started as they got settled.

"Seriously?"

"Just listen.  Kissing aside, have you ever cheated or been cheated on?"

"No and not that I know of.  You?" Meryl asked him.

"Yes and Yes, but it was a long time ago."

"Still might be time to get off that high horse about kissing."

"Okay, okay."

They looked out into her tiny yard.  It was still hot in the middle of the night.  There was a cat walking the fence and then it jumped into her neighbors' yard and disappeared.  "Come here, Babe." He reached his hand to out to her.  She settled on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.  She kissed his neck, and he turned her head and kissed her deeply.

"So that's it? No first kiss, first period, losing virginity stories?" She whispered.

"Not tonight.  I'll tell you about my first period when I know you better," he replied.

"I can't wait."

He stood up with her in his arms and carried her to bed.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

January 2018

Minneapolis

 

There was a knock at the door of her hotel room.  Meryl burrowed out from under the blanket and shuffled over to look out the peephole. Charlie.  She unhooked the door and let him in.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked as he pulled her close.

"Ugh.  I really was going to try to make it to the free dance tonight, but putting on clothes was too daunting." Meryl was wearing over sized sweats, a hoodie and slipper socks.  She had a fleece snuggie around her shoulders. "Maddie and Evan won of course?"

"Yeah, then Maia and Alex and Maddie and Zach."

"And Kaitlin and Jean-Luc are devastated.  I hate pre-Olympics Nationals."

"And you're obligated to be at every one."  Charlie laughed.  "About three hundred people asked about you.  I told them you would be there tomorrow.  I left the details sketchy, so if someone asks you if you just flew in, you can say yes if you want."

"Thanks.  Maks really is flying in tonight.  He had a commitment this morning."

"You should think about making an announcement.  People might assume you're dying when they see you," He laughed and looked at her.  "No offense!" He said as she smacked him.

"We haven't even heard the heartbeat yet.  We go in three weeks.  We're not saying anything public until then." She sat back down on the bed, and when that wasn't enough to make her feel better, she curled up in the fetal position and wrapped the blanket around her. "How is Tanith; where is Tanith?"

She's finishing up work.  She's meeting us here.  I guess we're not going to dinner?"

"I'm not going, but you two go."

"Why don't we just order room service?  Will smelling food be a problem?" He asked her.

"No, it won't make it worse. I hate to keep you from going out, though."

"There's kind of a blizzard happening anyway.  Minneapolis in January was an inspired choice.  You have to give it to the ol' USFSA."

"They never stop trying.  I know, I tried to take a walk and get some fresh air earlier, and I made it about ten feet out the door."

Charlie sat on the edge of the bed, which was covered in books and some notes on paper.  Her laptop was under a blanket.  He picked up a book and looked through the pages.

"Do you teach this in the Italian?"

"Oh, good lord, no.  This is my own work.  I'm trying to get a jump because I can do it from bed and starting Wednesday, I'll be expected to have office hours again, and I have no idea what I'll be able to do.  I'm teaching a section of Freshman Honors Comp II and a section of English for juniors.  I'll probably be a TA again in a Chaucer course for one of my advisers unless he kicks me to the curb.  I won't teach anything in Italian...maybe forever.  Maybe one day I'll get an advisee that wants to specialize in it, like me." She smiled at him.  "Wow, that was more information than you wanted to know.  Last semester of law school for you--when do you start back?"

"Week from Monday."  He patted her foot.

"You didn't tell me how Tanith is."

"She's great.  She's been lucky, I guess, pregnancy wise.  She wasn't ever really sick.  Everything has been pretty smooth, other than the initial shock." He laughed.  This was news to Meryl, though.

"Wait, this was a surprise?"

"Yeah!" He said it like a polite _duh!_

"Really?"

"Yes, Meryl.  What did you think? That we were simultaneously separated and trying for a baby?"

"I didn't know you were _separated_. I didn't realize the situation was that dire, sorry."

"It got pretty bad this summer.  She moved in with a friend in LA."

"I knew something was wrong.  You should have told me.  I was a bit shocked when you announced the pregnancy."

"I felt bad about not saying anything.  I actually tried to put it out there in subtext," he told her.

"I didn't pick up on your text subtext." She looked at him.  "That would be a good band name, though. _Hey, we're Text Subtext, we're going to play one of our originals now.  Booooooooooo_." She waited for him to laugh, but no.  "So I guess you reunited.  Obviously."

"Yeah, reunion, birth control fail, reconciliation."

"Okay!"

"Sorry." He lay down perpendicular to her on the end of the bed.

"Oh, please, Charlie.  But you're happy now?"

"Yeah, it's going really well.  It shocked us into appreciating each other more.  I love her so much, Meryl."

"I know, Charlie." She poked him lovingly in the side with her foot.

"So yours wasn't a surprise."

"No.  I was supposed to come back from Europe pregnant.  It took a few more months."

"I thought you and Maks looked really happy in those Europe pictures."

"Yep.  No comment."

"No, please tell me about your sex trip of Europe!" She kicked him in the side and he grabbed her foot.  There was a knock. 

"That should be Tanith, I don't expect Maks this early." She told him.

Charlie got up to let his wife in.  Meryl sat up in bed and smoothed her hair.  Tanith looked indomitably beautiful with rosy cheeks from the cold.  She took off her coat and of course had the most adorable baby bump in the history of pregnancy.  Meryl delicately held up her own sweatpants as she went to hug Tanith.

"Sorry you're feeling so awful."

"It's okay.  I don't really throw up much, so there's that."  Charming.

"Charlie texted me about eating here.  That's actually perfect if the smell won't bother you."

"No, it's fine."

Charlie was looking over the menu.  "What do you guys want?  Tan, grilled chicken sandwich?"

"Sounds good.  Side salad."

"Meryl?"

"Soy milk.  One scrambled egg, toast and fruit.  And Sprite."

"Milk and sprite."

"Yes, I have to choke down the milk for protein.  The Sprite is a chaser."

"Oh, you poor thing." Tanith put her arms around Meryl, who only wanted to curl up in bed again.

"What do they have in salads?" Meryl asked Charlie.  "I want to order Maks something for later."

"Grilled chicken, grilled tuna, cobb."

"Grilled chicken.  Boring, but tuna could be dicey in Minnesota, yeah?"

"That's probably a good choice."  Charlie ordered the food, and then pulled out his wallet.

"Oh, please, this wonderful dinner is on us.  It's the least I can do for holding you in this lovely hotel room." Meryl tried to be light and charming even though she wanted to die.

The food came quickly, and while they ate, they talked about the ongoing competition and the world figure skating scene going into the Olympics.  Meryl didn't have a whole lot to say.

"You know we have an interview scheduled tomorrow morning?" Charlie asked Meryl.

"Yes, I guess there will be more press until the Olympics are over."

"Do your students recognize you?" Tanith asked her.

"Oh, a few do, and Google is forever. I had one who told me that _So You Think You Can Dance_ was her favorite show when she was little and did I ever get to dance with Travis. Some other guy thought I was on _Survivor_. People don't seem to retain much information about subjects they're not too interested in."

"That's so true!" Charlie laughed. "I'm just figure skating guy at school."

"Every so often I'll run into a hard core figure skating fan, or someone who grew up in the ballroom world, but otherwise, I'm just another grad student."

Yet another knock, and Charlie went over to the door to let in Maks. 

"Hey, Charlie!" Maks grabbed him in a hug.  "Tanith, you look radiant," he hugged her more gently and kissed her on the cheek.  Meryl was getting out of bed. "Babe, just stay in there.  Did you eat anything?" He came over to the bed and kissed Meryl.

"I got an egg and some toast.  A little bit of fruit."

Maks gathered up all of Meryl's study materials and stacked them on the table. He went in the bathroom and ran some water on a washcloth, wrung it out, and put it on Meryl's forehead. She closed her eyes, feeling better both because of the cloth and also just because he was there. "We got you some food." She told him.

"Thanks, Babe."

"Well, we're going to go.  See you at 10:00, Meryl?"  Charlie asked.

"Yeah, meet you...?"

"I'll come by here.  We're two floors up.  They have a car for us to the arena."

 

The next day, Meryl made it through the interview and through the men's competition--Charlie was on one side of her and Maks was on the other and she could lean against both.  Right after the medals, all of the past Olympic gold winners were escorted on the ice for a photo op.  Charlie practically carried her, but she faked it very well.  No one asked her if she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness--a victory!  Afterward, there was another photo shoot with Meryl and Charlie and then Tanith and Maks were added.

"Years from now, the kids will love this photo." Charlie told Meryl.

"Charles III will actually be able to see evidence of himself," Meryl said with a smile.

"Maybe Oleg will notice how green his mother is," Charlie laughed.

"Hey!  It's Boris.  Or Natasha."


	6. Chapter 6

Tuesday of Week 5

April 2014

 

Maks grumbled all day about _The Jungle Book_ samba.  He was annoyed that it was going to have a comedy angle, he was annoyed that he was playing an iconic character who was a young boy, he was annoyed that everyone else had traditional princesses to play with, while Meryl was a character that was hardly even in the movie.

"She's really important, though.  She lures him back into the human world," Meryl told him.  "I love _The Jungle Book,_ the movie is good, but the original stories are some of my favorites from when I was a kid." She tried to get him out of his funk.

Grumble, grumble, grumble, sneer, snort, grumble. Whatever. Her toe was killing her, and the Indian village girl wasn't going to wear high-heeled Latin shoes.  That was good enough for her.  She told Maks her feet were sore from her AT shoes, and she rehearsed all day in socks.  By the end of the day, though, she was hurting.  He caught her limping.

"What is that?  That's not sore feet!" He pointed at her foot accusingly.

There was no camera person currently in the room with them, but she made an ever so subtle look and wink to the mounted camera on wall.

"I'm done for today anyway," he told her. They gathered up their bags and water jugs and headed to the parking lot.  Before they got outside he asked her quietly, "Will you come over?  I want to see this foot.  I'm making dinner, you can stay for that if you want."

"Sure, I'll follow you."

They walked to the parking lot, interacted with the paps perfunctorily and then headed back to his apartment in their cars.  Maks's apartment complex was quiet, and the actual place was empty; Val and Tony were still at the studio.  They went straight to the kitchen where Maks sat her on a bench and sat down on the end of it.  She took off her shoe and showed him her toe.  It was swollen and several different shades of purple and blue.

"What the hell? What is this?  When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" He put her foot down gingerly, walked to the freezer and retrieved one of several ice packs.  He wrapped it in a dish towel and brought it back to her.

"Calm down, it's minor, it's going to be fine." Meryl sighed.  "It happened in Florida.  I put the new shoes on, and they didn't have as much give as I am used to, and I ended up tripping and bending my toe back."

"That shithead didn't say a word to me.  I'm going to kill him."

"It was so not his fault.  We knew you would be mad, but I should have told you right off. I'm sorry."

"Ugh, your toe is black.  He is dead."

"Listen to me. This was not Val's fault."

"Well, he should have told me.  Little chickenshit."

Meryl sighed and just looked at him.  He smiled, patted her foot gently, set it down on the bench with the ice and went over to the fridge to start preparing dinner. For a part-time residence this kitchen was very well equipped with cooking tools, dishes and even serving accessories.

Meryl could see the laundry room from where she was sitting.  There were four piles of very neatly folded clothes and linens on a high table.

"Do you do your own laundry?" She asked him.

"No, we have someone who comes in twice a week to clean and do laundry.  I do clean my own kitchen.  That's the extent of my housework at the moment, though."

Maks was rough chopping vegetables and putting them on what looked like a cookie sheet.

"What are you making?"

"I'm going to roast these and make a sauce for pasta.  And make a salad."

"Sounds amazing.  You're an impressive cook."

"Not really.  It's hard to mess up the few basic things that I make.  I want to get better, but I don't really have the time to work at it."

"Tony and Val don't complain."

"Tony and Val would eat takeout every night if I didn't cook.  Val eats takeout most nights two hours after dinner anyway." 

Meryl looked around the parts of the apartment she could see from her vantage.  It was sparsely decorated, but the pieces he did have were tasteful and attractive.  Nothing at all flashy, but interesting, if slightly impersonal touches.  The couple whose house she was staying at in Malibu, Ed and Linda, had a hodge-podge of objects they had collected in their travels and lots of photographs.  Her own condo was mostly filled with skating memorabilia, photos of herself and friends and pieces with inspirational sayings.  It struck her looking at adult spaces that her house was an overgrown dorm room with nice rugs.

Maks had put the vegetables in the oven, put a salad together and was currently mixing salad dressing in a cruet.  He could downplay it all he wanted to, it was damned impressive to Meryl.

"Let's sit in here while it cooks," he said gesturing to the living room.  She limped in there and sat on the much more comfortable sofa, with her foot to the side.  He sat down and again put the foot in his lap, holding the ice pack gently against the toe and rubbing her ankle with his thumb.  He reached down and pulled the other foot up. "No offense, Babe, but you have weird feet."

"I know; they're blocks.  That's why I usually wear cute, dainty shoes to camouflage them. They're my secret weapon in skating, though, so I love them in spite of how ridiculous they look.  I have man-hands, too." She put her hands out.

"You do not have man-hands!" He laughed.

"Okay. They're not big, but they're super blocky, too.  Again, very productive hands, so I can't complain."

Maks put his hand against hers to compare, and it did indeed make hers looks more elegant.

"General schmuckiness of my brother aside, your dance was brilliant. You looked as good as I've seen from a non-professional."

"Aw, thanks.  You wouldn't believe how little time we had and how hectic it was, so it was kind of a miracle that it all came together. We were constantly being called into rehearsals for the ice show. Val was over it."

"I wish I could have been there for the start of the tour."

"That's really nice of you to say, but I think you'll get your fill.  This week is going to be crazy." She put her non injured foot back on the floor.

"When does your plane leave in the morning?"

"8:15.  Yours is?"

"Ten something.  I have to rehearse for the pro number in the morning, but the car for the airport is leaving at like 8:20 from the studio, so I assume Sharna and I won't be in much of it.  We're both very happy to be back on the team with you and Charlie, though, so it will be fine."

"We missed you, too.  Val and Peta were not thrilled to be there, or with each other." She laughed.

"Really? They're decently close friends."

"I think they were just annoyed.  Charlie said that Peta talked about James the entire time, and Val was stressed out about the schedule.  He was razzing her about Charlie's shoes.  Hey, do you think she sabotaged Charlie a little bit with that rumba?"

"No, I think the rumba was fine.  Peta is a very nice girl, and I don't think it would occur to her to strategize that much. Love her, but she's not the sharpest knife in the box."

Meryl laughed.  "In the drawer."

"What?"

"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  Not the brightest crayon in the box."

"English idioms."

"I know.  Well, I shouldn't have even suspected sabotage." She whispered "This show is making me paranoid."  She returned her regular tone of voice, "The dance was really pretty anyway."

"It just pales next to yours and Val's.  It kills me in a way because I feel like if you were paired with Val, they could already engrave that trophy with your names on it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You should probably be with Val.  You should be with Val.  He's never had someone like you.  I mean, Zendaya comes close, but they had so many issues with her height and her age they had to work around. With you, he would be so far out ahead, it wouldn't even be close.  He should have gotten you, and I should be making Danica cry and answering her questions.  Endlessly." He laughed to keep it all light, but Meryl was appalled by what he was saying.

"Maks." She couldn't yet find the words.

"Meryl, he's so talented.  He's a genius. I think I was born first and put into dance so it would be assured that he would follow me.  He's so much more gifted."

"Just stop.  God, please.  Stop doing that."

He looked at her, confused.

"I loved the Argentine Tango.  It was challenging and impressive, and he really pushed me.  It was great. But...you...ugh.  You..are making art." He rolled his eyes and looked away.  "I know my words are stupid, but just, just listen.  The foxtrot? It's so beautiful, I can't even describe it.  It's a whole different experience.  Working with Val was interesting and important.  Working with you is like...doing something I love.  I don't know why you don't value you your work, or who told you that you aren't as good, but it's bullshit. And you need to stop thinking it."  She stopped her rant and looked at him and smiled.  "Just tell me who I need to go give a piece of my mind to."

He looked at her for a moment, and then stood up, put her foot down gently, and kissed her on her forehead, lingering a few moments beyond a casual sign of affection.  "I'm going to finish dinner."

She got her phone out to look through. About five minutes later, Tony and Val came through the door.  Val took one look at her with her foot elevated and the ice pack, and turned right around and exited the door.

Maks came in from the kitchen yelling in Russian.  Meryl didn't catch the whole thing, but she heard several obscenities, the words _toe, black_ and _idiot_ and a diminutive of _Valentin_. 

Val came back in. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He said in English.

"Really, it's okay," Meryl said.  Tony was laughing his ass off, but he walked over to Meryl and lifted the ice pack.

"Dude, Val, what the fuck did you do to her?  Tony said.  "Where are you going to sleep tonight?"

"Oh, dear," Meryl said. "Seriously. Not his fault."

The dinner was delicious, and by the time Meryl needed to leave to be able to pack for the trip and get some sleep, Maks had stopped ranting about the toe.

"See you tomorrow in Jersey!" She said.  They were going to film in the Dance with Me studio.

"Mama wants you over for dinner after rehearsal," Maks told her.

"Oh, that's so nice.  Tell her I'm looking forward to it."

"Goodnight, Meryl," He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"Night, Maks."  She got in the car and pulled out, watching him in the rear view mirror until he disappeared from view.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

February 2018

 

Meryl was getting wholly familiar with the humiliations of pregnancy.  Pee in the cup, step on the scale.  Everything off today except bra and socks.  Here are two gowns; one for the front and one for the back. Doctor will see you in a few minutes.  Meryl wondered if they were getting her ready for the ultimate in loss of dignity: the act of giving birth, which truthfully terrified her.

Maks sat in the uncomfortable chair by the table while Meryl fulfilled her instructions.  She folded her clothes neatly and placed them on the little bench behind the curtain with her underwear tucked away between her pants and her top. Maks had pointed out in the shower this morning that she had the tiniest bump going.  He was right, there it was.

She sat on the table, avoiding the stirrups for as long as possible. She had taken the rest of the afternoon off and was looking forward to going home and going to bed.  Poor Maks.  He had been so patient through this whole ordeal so far, but he had to be losing it.  The kitchen was still in shambles, and she could do nothing except go to work every day and collapse the moment she got home.  How did people survive this? How did the world continue to perpetuate itself? Why hadn't women just refused to go through this generations ago?

Maks wordlessly handed his phone to her.  On his screen was a picture of a baby gorilla hugging a kitten. Oh, she loved this man. She pulled out her phone and pulled up her puppy of the day picture.  It was a group of puppies posed to look like a bouquet of flowers.  She showed it to him.

"Nice," he said.

The doctor brushed in commandingly.  "Hey, folks, how's it going?"  The nurse was right behind him organizing equipment and making herself busy.  He looked at his tablet.  "Any concerns before we begin?"

"I feel terrible all the time," she told him.

"Missing work?"

"No."

"Excessive vomiting?"

"No."

"Totally normal.  You should start to feel better soon."

"What if I don't?"

"Well, some people do feel bad the whole time.  Still very normal."

What if I die? She thought as he was looking on the tablet.

"You've lost three pounds since December." He looked at her.  "You are a very small woman, and you shouldn't lose weight.  This is not a time for dieting."

Maks started to say "Wh..." but Meryl took his hand and looked at him. Maks was quiet.

"Dr. Woodrose, I am eating everything I can.  I force myself, three times a day, to get down protein, fat, grains and fruits and vegetables.  I have had issues with dairy my whole life, but I eat ice cream every night for extra calories.  You are not the first person to suggest that I am not eating enough out of vanity.  In fact, I have heard it since I was fourteen years old.  They weren't right, and you're not right.  I am doing the best I can."

Maks looked at her, pursed his lips, nodded his head and smiled. 

"You were a competitive..." the doctor was looking through his notes on the tablet.

"Figure skater, ice dancer," she said.

"Yes, well, just make sure you are getting enough.  Full fat dairy, whole-grain bread, you know."

Meryl and Maks exchanged a look while the doctor was again looking down.

"Well, okay, let's find the heartbeat.  Then we'll do the ultrasound.  This is the fun part," he said perhaps to lighten the tension.

He slid her gown open in the front, exposing her little belly.  He placed the instrument on it and the heartbeat sounded immediately. "Really strong! Sounds great!"

She kept her eyes glued to Maks who was getting misty, of course.  She laughed quietly at him, and he took her hand. 

"Hmmm," the doctor said and looked at them.  "Yeah."  He looked at the nurse who was looking at Meryl and Maks with a little smile.  "Let's look at it on the ultrasound."

The nurse nodded her head still smiling.

The ultrasound was internal--yay, another humiliation as the doctor put a lubed up probe in her. 

"Don't say a word," she said to Maks.

"Nothing.  Not a word," he said.

The nurse had turned on the monitor, and they saw nothing but green fuzz for a moment.  Then something appeared, but it was really hard to define for people looking at an ultrasound for the first time.

"Yep," the doctor said.

"Awwww" the nurse said.

Meryl and Maks were still trying to figure out what was on that screen.

"You have her hand," he said to Maks.  "Good."  He pointed to a place on the screen. "There is a very robust looking baby A," he pointed to another spot, "And there is an equally robust baby B.  Congratulations!"

Meryl thought about that bouquet of puppies for a split second. 

"Twins?" Maks was the first to speak.

"Yes, indeed.  It was clear on the Doppler, but I thought we'd confirm it on the ultrasound."

"Wait, which is? What? To whom?" She said.

But they could both see them now.  Meryl was twelve weeks along, and there were two little embryos with arms and legs and fingers and hearts looking as content as could be. So much more than that there were two of them, was seeing them for the first time.  Their children.  Their kids. Their family, right there. Hello, family.

The doctor was going on about birth plans to be discussed and some statistics she couldn't follow.  The nurse printed out an image for them. She hoped that Maks was picking some of this up, but she looked at him with tears streaming down his face and a look like he had walked into another universe.  Thank goodness for Dr. Google once they restored their wits.

"You'll come back in about six weeks, and we will do a much more detailed, external ultrasound.  You can find out the sexes then, if you want.  But everything looks great.  Keep eating, hope you feel better, call us if there are any concerns.  Ms. Davis," he shook Meryl's hand. "Mr...." he looked again at his tablet, "Chmerkovskiy," he pronounced it very deliberately, shook Maks's hand and left the room with the nurse behind him.

Meryl got off the table, and Maks pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. His chest was heaving, which made her cry, finally, too.  She pressed the side of her face against his and let their tears fall together.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just shameless smut.

July 2017

 

Meryl was reading her book (a smutty novel with absolutely no academic merit) and eating a peach on the train. Maks was asleep with his head on her lap, taking up most of their two seats.  It was a relatively short trip today from Vienna to Prague, where they were planning to stay two days before continuing their journey to Poland, eventually ending up in Estonia where their return flight was taking off. There was an older couple speaking German sitting across from them.  The woman of the pair was looking at Meryl in an amused but disapproving way. Meryl couldn't tell if it was _those Americans_ or _that man draped across her_ or _bad taste in literature_.

They had spent three weeks in Italy.  She had planned to study all day while he taught master classes at local studios.  This was how she had pictured that phase of the trip:  wearing cute dresses, putting in eight hours of work, meeting up with Maks for dinner and staying in fabulous hotels.  In actuality, they slept until 11:00, grabbed something to eat, she spent about four hours in this or that library at this or that university, they met back at the hotel where they made love in a slow, afternoon kind of way, got dressed for dinner, ate leisurely, and then met up with Maks's new dancer friends with whom they went to nightclubs and danced for hours, stumbled back to the hotel, fucked in a frenzied, drunk, middle of the night kind of way and collapsed until late the next morning.  She loved every day.

After she had taken that last pill in late April, she had looked up articles with tips on conceiving.  What positions were optimal, what to avoid, days to have sex verses days to abstain.  She sent them to him thinking he would be all for it, as eager as he was to get to the next phase of their lives.  Instead he was somewhat offended.

"Just forget all of this.  Lots of unprotected sex. That's all."

"But..."

"No.  This is awful.  'Stop and place a pillow under your hips' ?  'No oral'?  Please.  I can see exactly where this is going.  No plans, no charts, no lists, no schedules. We're not sucking the joy out of this."

Meryl laughed.

"You know what I mean!" He smiled at her.

"Sometimes it's not as straight forward as 'lots of unprotected sex'."

"We'll deal with that if we have to," he was decisive.

"Fine, you win.  No lists."

"No strategies," he was grinning at her.

"I'm still going to be me."

"I hope so.  But...no perfectionism here. You've always been your most abandoned..."

"Yes, I know, I know..." she blushed, in spite of being an old married woman. She deleted the charting calendars she had already set up and bought a lot of trashy underthings.

She finished her peach and reached into her bag for a tissue to wrap around the pit.  Bending slightly at the waist woke him up, and he stirred on her lap.  He appeared to fall right back asleep, but his left hand was definitely awake.  It reached under her ass rather forward and slid two fingers into her underwear.  He paused for a moment at the discovery of how agreeable she was to those fingers.  Hey, it was a smutty book and his face had been in her lap for forty-five minutes.  One finger went quite in and the other...

She caressed his head in communicative manner, and he removed the hand and sat up.  She took that left hand in hers. kissed it subversively, and led him down the aisle.  While she felt his cock boring expectantly into her back, she noticed that the bored lady aside, no one was at all paying attention to them, which made her feel less self-conscious about the debauchery that was about to take place.

They reached the small lavatory and entered it as nonchalantly as possible. She latched the door while he yanked down her underwear with both hands.  She unbuttoned that top button, and he let his trousers fall to his ankles.  She pushed down his underwear, and he swung her against the wall, her ass resting on a corner of the sink.

Meryl had always been with men who were considerably larger than she, but no one had ever used their size differential more effectively than Maks.  The only other true long term lover she'd had, of course, was Fedor.  He was skilled and attentive, but lacked imagination and was happy for her to climb on top and take it from there.  She didn't have complaints.  But Maks was someone for whom being able to hold her with one hand and make her come with the other was a matter of pride.

He slid into her, and she braced herself with her arms around his neck and lifted herself from the sink.  With his hand firmly securing her ass, she rose and fell against the other hand.  She moaned in his ear.  The frequency of sex had the opposite effect on them: he lasted much longer and she came much easier.  She had also sworn off hormonal birth control for life.  She had no idea the effect on her libido until it was no longer in her system.  Merciful fuck, she was a new woman.

She whispered something filthy in his ear and he moaned and fucked her hard.  She came spectacularly against his hand and clamped her legs around him harder and bore down on him, looking directly into his eyes and continuing to whisper all manner of perversions.  She put three fingers in his mouth, the peach juice still sticky, and he came with a muffled cry. 

They stayed pressed together for a moment, breathing in tandem and giggling.  He placed her down so that her feet were on the floor, and he reached for the scrap of cotton that was her underwear. 

"Are these even useful at this point?" He asked her.

"Yes," she sighed and tried not to think of them being on the floor of this lavatory, turned them inside out and pulled them up.  She washed her hands, kissed him and exited first.  She reached her seat, and the German speaking woman gave her an uninterpretable look.  Meryl chose to see it as jealousy.  She picked up her book, and Maks slid past her into the seat. He took her hand with a smirk.

 


	9. Chapter 9

March 2018

 

"We are not announcing the sexes of the babies at Val's birthday party.

"Why not? It makes perfect sense. Everyone we love will be there."

"As far as I know, Cheryl and Paul will not be at Val's birthday gala."

These Chmerkovskiys and their birthdays.  Meryl's had been fused with Maks's the last four years, and they'd had joint blowouts.  It was all a bit much.  She missed her old birthdays in which hung over people came to her house to watch awesome TV marathons and sports all day.  They were low key-no gift affairs.  But she was not going for a joint birthday/major babies announcement with Val.  Sorry.

Instead, they had the elder Chmerkovskiys over for dinner.  The kitchen was finally done, and Maks slaved all day in there making an Italian feast inspired by their trip. Meryl was finally feeling human again and had gained five pounds at their last appointment.  She had also popped significantly and looked to be about eight months pregnant instead of five. 

Everyone was on his or her best behavior at dinner.  Meryl kept up in Russian as best as she could and her parents-in-law made no disparaging remarks about her career.  Maks cleared the plates and brought out a cake Meryl had made.

"I was going to do some clever cake gender reveal, but I'm not that talented," she told Mama and Papa Chmerkovskiy. "Anyway, chocolate is much more delicious."  They cut slices of cake, served coffee and got Paul and Cheryl on the computer live from Michigan.

"Okay, guesses first! Papa..." Maks said

 "два мальчика," guessed Mr. Chmerkovskiy.  


"Papa says two boys.  Mama..."

 

 "Yes, два мальчика!" Both of them spoke good enough English to make their guesses.  Meryl suspected they were just trying to be cute.  Ah, patience. 

 "Mr. Davis..."

 "One boy, one girl."

 "Mrs. Davis..."

 "He took mine!  Okay, to make a game of it, I'll go with two girls."

 "Someone has guessed correctly!" Maks declared.

 "Well, I should hope so," Paul replied, making Meryl love him even more.

 "And the winner and correct guesser is," Meryl did a drum-roll on the table. "Paul Davis!"

 "One boy, one girl!" Maks said in English.  Mama and Papa attacked them with hugs.  See, Meryl thought.  Paul and Cheryl were thrilled via Skype.

 "Names, what about names?" Cheryl asked.

 "We have some ideas." Meryl announced.  "We'll announce that when they're born."  Ever since they had found out they were having twins, Meryl had felt overwhelmed with opinions from everyone about everything.  They had already picked names, and Meryl loved them.  She wasn't going to subject herself to others' opinions until the babies were born and the names couldn't be changed. 

 Meryl said goodbye to her folks.  They were coming for a visit in a week and a half for Easter.  The men cleaned the kitchen while Meryl and Mama talked and played with the golden retriever puppy they had adopted when Meryl started feeling better. Meryl tried to follow the conversation, but Mama lost her occasionally.   


 Maks's parents left, and Meryl and Maks sat down to contact their close people about the sexes.  

  **Meryl** : What's up, Chuck!

  **Charlie** : You're hilarious.  And original!

  **Meryl** :  The Davis-Chmerkovskiy twins are...

  **Charlie** : Setting a record for longest last name?

  **Charlie** : Ha! Ha! Ha!

  **Meryl** :  Eyeroll.  If you don't want to know...

  **Tanith** :  I want to know!  I'm taking his phone away.

  **Meryl** :  One he and one she!

  **Tanith** :  Awwwww, that's perfect!  Congratulations!

  **Charlie** :  That's so great Meryl!  Smack Maks on the back for me!

  **Meryl** :  OK.  Tanith, how are you?

  **Tanith** :  Huge!

  **Meryl** :  Picture or I don't believe you.

 Charlie sent a picture of an uncomfortable looking, but still beautiful Tanith with an enormous belly.

  **Tantith** :  Your turn.

 "Maks, take a belly shot of me to send to Charlie and Tanith."

 "Really?"

 "Yes, here's Tanith."  Meryl showed him the picture.

 "Holy shit."

 "Shut up, that's me in about two weeks at this rate.  Take the picture!" She handed him her phone.

  **Meryl** :  This pretty much happened last week.

  **Charlie** :  Wow!  

  **Tanith** :  Call me if your feel swell and we can commiserate.

  **Meryl** :  Okay, talk to you later.  Love you guys!

  **Tanith** :  You, too!

 She talked to Val and Tony and then begged off for bed, followed by Maks.  He rubbed her shoulders, which had some tension in them.

 "Your mother was trying to tell me something after dinner, but I'm not sure I got the whole thing," she yawned.  "I think she told me if you had an affair, it was okay, you still love me and I am your queen."

 "Oh, thank you, Mama.  That's helpful"

 "I know, I think she was just trying to help you out."  Meryl laughed.

 "I love them.  They are crazy sometimes."

 "I mean, it makes perfect sense that I need to hear something like that when I am getting as big as a house and have felt like death for fifteen weeks."

 "But..."

 "Yes?"

 "You are feeling so much better?"

 Meryl could hear the look in his eye there in the dark.

 "Sooo much better."  She turned around, draped one leg around him and scooted as close as she could, belly notwithstanding.

 "Good," he whispered and kissed her better than he had in months.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying a Post Birthday World thing with the two universes here, so sincere apologies to Lionel Shriver. It's nowhere near as good, of course, but at least it's less depressing.

**Friday, March 1, 2019**

**Austin, Texas**

 

Meryl stepped out of her condo to run.  It felt amazing, and she checked her phone for the temperature.  57 degrees, the warmest it had been since November. She changed her run plan from five to eight miles to take advantage of the conditions.  She still planned an eleven mile long run on Sunday, and this would probably make it less painful. She was running a half marathon in New Braunfels next Saturday. She put in her ear buds and set Bajofondo Tango Club on her phone so she could pretend to dance as she ran.  She ran a good pace on a downtown route that connected to a lake trail and then looped back downtown and to her door.  She stretched a bit and headed in to shower for work.

She was one of the older students in her program, but she tried not to dress like it. She pulled on jeans, a bright purple v-neck and flat sandals.  She added some bracelets and grabbed a sweater although she was warm enough from her run she didn't think she'd need it.  She threw an aloe vera drink from the fridge into her purse. She had weaned herself off all caffeine and had more energy than she thought possible.  She grabbed a protein bar and headed to catch her bus to campus, arriving in her shared office right on time.  Her two office mates were not yet there, both of them late for 8:30 office hours. 

Samantha and Nick arrived together about ten minutes later.  "Davis," Nick said, "stop trying to make us look bad."

"But you make it so easy!" Meryl responded.  None of them expected to have any students pay them a visit this morning anyway.  The semester was only six weeks old, it was Friday, and there wasn't anything due until after spring break.  All three should have quiet work time on their dissertations before their classes, which was exactly what Meryl was dreading.

Her freshman honors English class wasn't until 11:30.  That meant three hours of staring at her computer, trying to be inspired.  She had hit a snag.  She had done all the research, she even had a good outline, but she had written herself into a corner she couldn't figure how to get out of.  Essentially, she was arguing two opposing points.  She needed to hash it out with her adviser, but she hated to admit defeat.  She thought about deleting twenty pages and starting back from there, but she couldn't bear to do that either. She started from the beginning and edited.  She cross checked her references.  She reread some articles.  She wasted time until it was finally late enough to justify going over her class notes.  Her freshmen were reading a novel by Ellen Gilchrist and keeping writers' journals that they went over every Friday.  They would discuss the book for half the class and then she would invite them to read excerpts from their journals that week, and this particular class loved to share.  It was her favorite hour.

She met her friend Amanda for lunch on campus, and they took it outside for the first time this semester and sat at plastic picnic table.

"Drinks tonight?  Homer's Dilemma is playing at the Pix," Amanda was in the doctoral program in chemistry.

"I wish.  I might show up later, but I have..."

"That date!  Oh my god, I almost forgot.  Lexi's friend.  Are you excited?"

"Tyler.  Um, yeah, I guess?"

"Well, you look adorable.  Are you meeting him straight from work?" Amanda asked.

"No, I'm going to go home and change.  I'm going to wear a dress, I think."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting him at The Draught House.  I guess we'll go from there."

"I'm jealous.  I wish I had a date to look forward to."

"Yeah, it must be awful to have a cute, sweet boyfriend waiting to take you out for drinks and Homer's Dilemma.  Poor you!" Meryl smirked at her friend.

"You're right; it's awful.  Well, I have to go chain myself back to the lab.  Meet us tonight, I mean unless you end up back at your place ripping each other's clothes off.  The show starts at 10:00."

"Okay, have fun in the lab."  Meryl side-hugged her friend and gathered up her lunch trash.  She was heading for her shift in what was called the language lab.  The University of Texas accepted any student who was in the top seven percent of his or her class anywhere in the state, from the toniest neighborhoods in Dallas to the poorest schools in south Texas.  Students who were behind in their language skills were assigned two hours a week in the lab.  Her Friday afternoon group, was squirrely to say the least.  Not one of them wanted to be there--the last responsibility of the week.  Meryl had to plan engaging activities for the whole two hours or they would get nothing done.  This was in contrast to her Wednesday 10:00 A.M. group, who dutifully brought in their school work to revise and get Meryl's help.

This afternoon, she had them each pull a writing prompt out of a hat, and she set the timer for fifteen minutes.  When it went off, they passed their stories to the person at their left.  They had five minutes to edit the previous work. (Meryl walked around and gave lots of input during this step.) Then they had ten minutes to add on to the story.  Repeat, repeat, repeat and then read the results and evaluate.  Class dismissed, have a great weekend.

She returned to her office and sat at the computer, staring again at the loathsome words.  At five on the dot, she shut it down and practically skipped out of the building.  She caught her bus home and took a power nap until 6:30.  She had an hour before she was supposed to meet Tyler, so she took a quick shower, redid her hair and makeup, put on the dress she had ordered a week ago, specifically for tonight, and took a half shot of tequila for courage.  The pub was in easy walking distance of her house, and she left in time so that she would be neither early (too eager) or late (asshole).  When she was half a block away, she spotted a guy who must be him--she had seen a picture on Lexi's phone.  The timing thing could be a good sign?

He was waiting just inside the door, and he smiled at her when she walked in.  He was tallish, probably six foot one or so.  He had medium brown hair and was wearing khakis and an untucked button-down.  He looked perfectly appropriate, but she felt overdressed in medium heels and a fringy shawl over the tight black dress.

"I'm Meryl."  She smiled at him.

"Tyler.  You look great." He gave her a light, barely touching hug.  He seemed really nervous.

"Should we get a table? Sit at the bar?"

"Let's get a table."  There was a short wait, but soon they were seated on the patio.  They both ordered beers, Meryl, a safe choice that beer connoisseurs would look down their noses at. "I like beer, but I don't know a lot about...all of them." She said by way of explanation.  She was definitely more of a wine person, but she didn't tell him that in case it would be awkward.

"Yeah, I just drink what I like."  Okay.

"So, you work at the capitol?" Meryl asked him.

"Yeah, I'm the press secretary for Senator Cantrell."

Lexi had not told her this.  Senator Cantrell was an ultra-conservative from Houston who was on the news all the time railing about this and that. He was planning on running for governor.  The best thing Meryl could say about the guy was that he probably wouldn't be any worse than the current blowhard in office.

"Senator Cantrell, huh?"

"I take it you're not a fan."

"I'm not terribly political," Meryl said diplomatically, "but no, I wouldn't say I agree with him on...anything." Meryl scrunched up her face and then kicked herself for being cutesy.  Woman up, Davis, Cantrell is straight out of _The Handmaid's Tale_. "Frankly, he scares me."

Tyler laughed, but not really with his eyes.  Change the subject.

"Did you go to Texas?" She asked him.

"A&M."

Perfect.  Meryl had become a Texas fan, it was hard not to, much to Charlie's horror.  She assured him that she would always root for Michigan if the two teams ever played, but thankfully, that hadn't happened since she'd been there. 

"They don't play each other very much anymore, I guess," she said.

"That's the only bad thing about us going to the SEC, we don't get to kick Texas's ass every year."

"Yeah, that's a shame."

"So, I know you're a gold medalist--Lexi told me that--but I have to admit, I Googled you.  _Dancing with the Stars_? Really?" He laughed.

"Really and truly. That was five years ago."

"So what was that like?"

Fantastic.  A dream.  Heartbreaking.

"It was great!"

Her phone dinged.

 

 **Charlie** :  Kicked its ass this week!

 

"Oh, I should have turned that off.  Sorry." Meryl silenced her phone and zipped it up in her bag.

"So, do you want to order here or go somewhere else?" He asked her.

Oh god, here, so she could say goodbye and go meet her friends.

She ate a veggie burrito and kept the conversation on safe topics.  His dog, buying a house in the crazy Austin market, running.

"Okay, well, this was fun!"  She tried to be sincere.

"I'll call you." So did he. 

They did the light hug, cheek peck thing and went their separate ways.  She headed toward the Pix. She would be early, but her gang was probably already there drinking and playing some pre-show darts.  She pulled out her phone.

 

 **Meryl** :  Sorry, ass-kicker.

 **Charlie** :  It was amazing!  I'm definitely going back on Monday.

 **Meryl** :  I would hope so.

Charlie had started his new job as deputy city attorney this week. His divorce had been final as of Valentine's Day.  It had been a rough month.

 **Charlie** :  Where are you?

 **Meryl** : Walking from a terrible date to hopefully an amazing show.  What are you doing?

 **Charlie** :  Collapsed on the couch, watching Wolverine basketball.  Eating pizza and drinking beer. 

 **Meryl** :  It could be worse.

 **Charlie** : Bates is over.  He says hi.

 **Meryl** :  Hey, Bates.

 **Charlie** :  He wants to know why your date was terrible.

 **Meryl** :  Where to start...

 **Charlie** : DJ says hi, too.

 **Meryl** : Hey, Deej. I'm going in, wish me luck.

 **Charlie** :  Good luck, talk to you soon!

 **Meryl** : <3

 

"Meryl!" Amanda yelled as Meryl entered the bar.

"Hey! What are y'all drinking?" Charlie would never let her live down her acquired southernisms, either.

"Tequila!"

"Bring me two!" Meryl laughed.

"How was it? How was he?" Amanda asked her.

"An Aggie who works for Cantrell."

"Cantrell?" Then it dawned on Amanda. "Oh my god, what the hell was Lexi thinking?"

"Yeah, no idea."

"Well, shake it off, baby."

Meryl downed her first shot.  "On my way."

 

 

**Friday, March 1, 2019**

**New Brunswick, New Jersey**

 

At four A.M. they were finally all asleep. One or the other or both babies, and of course Meryl had been awake since midnight.  She had finally passed out at 11:15 for her glorious forty-five minutes of sleep.  In the following four hours, Meryl had done four feedings, had changed two diapers and had made copious notes on her phone about her dissertation.  Andrei was asleep under her arm, and Vera was in the bassinet by the bedside.  She woke up because Vera was babbling.

7:45.

"Holy shit!" Meryl sprang out of bed with Andrei on her hip.  She grabbed the pack and play and placed it semi-close to the TV.  She clicked on PBS Kids, oh good, Sesame Street and plunked both babies down.  "Sorry, kids.  Look, there's Cookie Monster.  He's your friend while I get a shower."

She must had turned the alarm off somehow while she was making notes on the phone last night.  She raced into the shower and washed all the critical parts.  She really, really needed to wash her hair, but that couldn't be this morning.  She threw a towel around her and went to the closet to scrounge up a very forgiving dress, a sweater, tights and boots, one of which was no where to be seen, of course.  She got on her hands and knees and searched through the floor of the closet.  Running shoes, ah guilt.  Next week, I start back, no excuses.  Sandals, what the hell? And then finally, the wedge heel of that elusive boot.  Happy day!

Back to the bathroom.  Powder, mascara, lipstick.  Throw the hair in a bun, pin, pin, pin, pin.  Screaming baby.

Andrei was sitting upright, as red as Elmo, furious about something.  Vera wasn't crying, but looked at her accusingly.  "Sorry! Give me forty-five seconds!"  She raced into the kitchen and fixed two bottles, checked the temperature, fine, and went back into the living room.  She picked up Andrei in one arm, Vera in the other and sat on the sofa.  She held Andrei under one arm and latched him on her breast and and fed Vera the bottle in one arm using both hands.  It was a feat she had perfected and she was damned proud of it.  Ten minutes on the dot, she switched them out; Vera on the other breast, Andrei with the other bottle.  She flipped the TV to the Today Show and then turned it off because it was too depressing.  In another ten minutes they were fed and happy.  She carried them both into the nursery, "Remember this room, kids? It's where you're supposed to sleep." She got them changed and dressed, putting the one she wasn't working on in a bouncy seat they both miraculously loved. She bundled them up, hats and mittens tucked neatly into their coat pockets and carried them to the car, strapped them in and grabbed the diaper bag and her school bag.  It was 24 degrees.  She longed for the days when she could get them in the double stroller and walk them to daycare.

It was less than a five minute drive.  She slung the diaper bag over her shoulder and then unstrapped the babies.  One in one arm, one in the other, she walked to the door, turned around, pushed it with her back and entered the center.  The babies' room was down the hall.  Ms. Sylvia was there ready to check them in.

"Did you remember the diapers?" Ms. Sylvia took Vera out of Meryl's arms.  Ms. Stacy came for Andrei.

"Crap!  No.  I'm so sorry." Ms. Sylvia's mouth was in a straight line.  It reminded Meryl of Bert when Ernie pulled his usual shenanigans. "Here, I have..." she was counting diapers in the bag furiously, "Ten diapers in here," She pulled them out. "That should last for today, and then I promise I will bring a new package on Monday." She got out her phone and made herself a note.  Then she pulled a ponytail holder out of the diaper bag and put it on her wrist.  _I won't take this sucker off until I buy the diapers_ , she vowed to herself.  She guiltily left the center, thankfully with happy children in the arms of loving people.  The clock in the SUV read 8:48. She was supposed to have office hours starting at 8:30.

She was at her desk by 9:05.  All the good parking spots were taken so she'd had to walk about a mile.  One of her office mates, Edward said, "It's the late Meryl Davis."

"It was a nightmare this morning," she replied.

"Oh it must be awful, with your giant house and your gorgeous husband. Truly, poor you."

"Lay off, Edward," Chelsea, Meryl's other office mate, said.

"I tease because I love.  And I'm monstrously jealous you get to go home to that man." Edward retracted his claws.

"He teaches a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30, you ought to take it." Meryl told him.  "When he's in town anyway."

"When's he back?" Chelsea asked.

"Tonight, thank god."

"Oh, shut up, both of you," Edward said.  They all went to work quietly at their computers. She was only three years older than her office mates, but it felt like ten.  Meryl pulled out her phone and went through the notes.  Her dissertation was just flowing out of her.  It was the only thing in her life that was easy at the moment.  She was about six weeks ahead of schedule.  It was a miracle.  She wrote all morning, and then had a meeting with her adviser just before lunch.  She saved and emailed the document before she walked down the hall.

Professor Reed welcomed her in.  "Sit down, Ms. Davis.  I haven't had a chance to read your updates, of course, but I'm so impressed by what you had finished through yesterday."  Diana Reed specialized in Elizabethan literature.  Meryl was a TA for her Shakespeare class this semester.  It was her only teaching responsibility, and it was rather light.  Meryl met with her small group once a week to go over Professor Reed's lectures and iron out any comprehension or writing issues.  Meryl graded the papers for her small group.  There were three assigned papers for the semester and three exams. "I couldn't be more pleased with how this is going.  Keep it up!" The professor told her.

They went over some details in the dissertation for about fifteen minutes.  Meryl took notes and would go through them thoroughly later on.  Professor Reed then moved on to the subject of the next academic year.

"You will have to increase your teaching responsibilities," she told Meryl.

"Oh, I know.  I will take on whatever I am assigned.  I really appreciate you and the advisers waving them this year.  I don't think I could have done it."

"How are the babies?" Professor Reed smiled at her.

"Fine, they're fine.  Neither had a fever this morning, so that's a major victory.  Their doctor has backed off talk of ear-tubes." Meryl had no idea just how much detail the woman wanted.  Probably less. "Anyway, I'll take the Shakespeare papers and get going on them."  Her adviser handed her a hefty stack. 

"No rush.  I plan to hand them back next Thursday. I started my third this morning.  They're dreadful so far."

Meryl laughed, said goodbye and headed back to her office.  She dropped off the papers, and went to the students' center to get a sandwich, an apple and some tea.  She realized she hadn't eaten anything since dinner last night.  She got a cookie, too.  She brought her lunch back to desk and scrolled through social media while she ate. She was so behind with everyone. Her phone dinged.

 

 **Maks** :  Plane takes off in fifteen minutes.  Can't wait to be home!

 **Meryl** :  Can't wait to see you! XOXO

 **Maks** :  Love you, Babe.

 **Meryl** :  <3

 

Both Edward and Chelsea had teaching commitments all afternoon, so she had the office to herself. She put on music Jenna had sent her, a local LA band and attacked the papers.  They weren't dreadful.  She had finished most of them by 3:30, and she decided to save the rest for Monday and work on her dissertation until it was time to go.  In just a flash, it was 5:00 and time to leave.  She wished she could stay another hour.  She loved those babies more than life, but my god it was peaceful in this office.  She shut down the computer reluctantly, put on her coat and scarf and flung her bag over her shoulder.  On the way to the car, she called ahead to a local pizza place with a drive through window and ordered a large supreme and a big salad.

She picked up the babies, who looked happy and healthy and promised the afternoon helper, Ms. Mel, that she would bring the diapers on Monday.  Ms. Mel was extra sweet and helped her carry a wrapped up against the cold baby to the car. Meryl and Mel strapped them in safely, and she took off.

When she got to the restaurant, the guy at the window told her it would be another ten minutes.  "Can I just park over there and wait?" She asked after she paid him.

"Oh sure, we'll bring it out to you."  Meryl parked and dug through the console for tip money.  Three dollars, thank you, Maks.  He had a habit of throwing the change in there when he paid with cash.

The babies were babbling sweetly in the back seat.  She pulled out her phone.

 

 **Meryl** :  How'd your first week go?

 **Charlie** :  Good, I'm exhausted.

 **Meryl** :  Me, too.  How's Chase?

 **Charlie** :  Teething.

 **Meryl** :  Sorry. :(  Give him a kiss from Aunt Meryl.

 **Charlie** :  Will do.  Love to yours, too.

 

Because the twins had been nine weeks early, they were somewhat delayed in their development.  No teeth yet, thank god.  Then she felt bad for being glad they were delayed.  Thankfully, the food arrived, and she could move on.

She drove home and brought in the babies, undid their coats, put the mittens and hats back in the pockets and put Andrei and Vera in the pack and play. "Just for a second, I promise!"  She brought the food in and put it on the counter.  She hung up her own coat and got out some jarred baby food to heat up, feeling guilty that she didn't have homemade stuff waiting in the freezer in little ice cube tray sized  portions like every other mommy she saw on the internet.  "Yummy sweet potatoes and pears, guys!" She strapped them in their high chairs and popped a bottle of wine, pouring herself a glass and getting a plate with pizza and salad.  The dressing was amazing and probably had 500 calories a tablespoon.

"So how was your day," she asked them, and they babbled back.  After getting some of the food in their mouths but most of it on the high-chair trays, she made two bottles and brought them back into the living room. She did the bottle/breast routine again.  And for my next trick... She watched a drama from the DVR.  The babies were looking really sleepy, so she carted them into the nursery and gave them wipe baths--mother of the year--changed them, and put them in their jammies. She put them in the cribs that abutted each other and let them talk themselves to sleep.  She passed by her room and took the boots off, and then headed to the kitchen to wash out the bottles and clean the high chairs.  She had just poured herself another glass of wine when she heard the door. She made her way to the entry and collapsed into him.  He picked her up in his arms and kissed her.

"I've never been happier to see another human in my life," she said.

"Me, too." And he carried her back to their room.


	11. Chapter 11

October 2024

 

It was Friday, and Meryl was exhausted in that Friday afternoon kind of way.  She wished she could go for a leisurely run and then join the family for a dinner out and home for an early bedtime.  Instead, she was meeting Maks to go pick up the kids from school and then on to Fort Lee for family birthday dinner September-October edition.  Don't have a bad attitude.  Don't have a bad attitude.  It will be really fun.  She hadn't seen the fam since Labor Day weekend, and it was always a good time.  She was just so finished with this week.

At least she was leaving work about two and a half hours early; that felt great.  The weather was still beautiful; she pulled her sunglasses out of her bag and looked down the path, and there he was. 

He was wearing tailored brown slacks, a pristine white button down, Italian loafers with no socks and sunglasses.  He had his backpack slung over one shoulder.  Her stomach flipped involuntarily.  She was frankly surprised he didn't have a pack of people, men and women following him down the path.  He saw her and his face reflected hers: lit up and goofy.

He grabbed her bag and kissed her neatly on the mouth.  "Hi."

"Hi," she said.  "How was class?"

"Fascinating."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, I thought math was so hard in school, but it makes perfect sense now."

"Nothing like life experience."

"I know."

Maks had enrolled in at Rutgers as in hopes of taking business classes.  He had to take some prerequisites and had tested into calculus for his math requirement. He was also taking Freshman English and and an intro to business course.  The four of them sat at the kitchen table and did school work every night.  Meryl helped the twins with their first grade reading and math, and Maks did his homework.

She took her bag from him--he was having some minor back issues, and he didn't complain.  They walked hand in hand back to the house where they dropped off their stuff, took Charlie on a very quick walk and grabbed the macaroni and cheese Maks had made to take over to Mama and Papa's house.

It was a short drive to Our Lady of Lourdes, but the carpool line was intimidating. 

"It goes fast once it gets moving," Maks told her.

"Thanks for doing this every day."

"I love it."

Meryl found it somewhat absurd as an agnostic with a half-Jewish, half-Orthodox husband they were becoming fully immersed in Catholic school culture, but there they were. They had even started attending weekend masses when Vera had come home and told them solemnly about obligations.  There was no chance either of them were going to convert.  Still, listening to her pair of six year olds practicing saying the Hail Mary for their part in the school's production Living Rosary was undeniably adorable.

Soon they were at the front and out ran Andrei and Vera, scrambling into the car and buckling their seat-belts around their booster seats. 

"Mama! You're here!" Andrei cried.

"Mama, what are you doing here?" Vera always got straight to the point.

"We're going to Baba and Deda's remember?"

They were joyous about this forgotten fact, but they tended to be joyous about everything.  New cereal? Yay! Charlie ate half a frog? Yay!  Meryl looked at them in the mirror.  Vera had on a red plaid jumper over a short-sleeved collared blouse and a navy cardigan. She had ankle socks and navy Mary Janes that had sneaker bottoms.  Her dark curly hair was in a rather unruly ponytail and missing the red ribbon Meryl had tied in it this morning.  Andrei had navy uniform pants and a red school sweatshirt over a red polo and athletic shoes.  Both twins had numerous missing teeth in the front.

"Vera, hand me your backpack, please." Meryl asked her daughter, who passed it up without comment.  The ribbon was tucked inside.  She would tie it back when they got there.  It might not stay long, but at least she was trying.  Miraculously, neither twin had their lunch down the front of them.

"Are you going to be good for your family?" Maks asked the twins in Russian. They were all supposed to speak Russian on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but they were often too tired to bother on Friday.  They did need to get into the swing, though, for tonight.

Both twins answered him "Yes, Papa" dutifully in Russian.

"Try a bit of everything, and what do you say if you don't like something?" Meryl asked in Russian.  Her language skills were such that she spoke almost as well as Maks at this point.  Her grammar was clearly better, but that was mostly because he spoke a slangy Russian with lots of English construction thrown in.  Meryl's secret to mastering languages was that she practiced all the time and was not afraid to make mistakes.  She told everyone in the family to correct her mercilessly.  They had, and she had learned.

"Nothing," Vera said.

"Nothing," Andrei said.

"That's right, say nothing," Maks laughed. "But tell Baba at the end that everything was delicious."

"And Papa made mac and cheese, too." Meryl struggled a bit for how to say the name of the dish in Russian. Maks laughed and tried a different way.

"Yay!"

It took them just under an hour to reach the elder Chmerkovskiys' home. Maks and Andrei walked up to the door while Meryl retied he ribbon in her daughter's hair and then took her by the hand and followed the guys.

The house was full of family, both biological and traditional. Val and his wife Anna were already there with their three year old son and one year old daughter. There was a good group of children and parents gathering in the back yard to run off some energy before dinner. Meryl held her niece Victoria, who wasn't feeling very well, and watched the dads and kids play with the dogs.  Her sister-in-law looked worn out.

"Ear infection?" Meryl asked Anna.

"Not this time, they think it's just a virus."

"So there's nothing to do except wait for her to get better."

"Exactly, so helpful."

Mr. Cherkovskiy came outside to watch the action.  He pulled up a chair next to his two daughters-in-law.

"Why aren't you staying tonight? Why are you going home right after?" He asked Meryl in Russian, which Anna didn't understand.

"We have to go home because the kids have soccer in the morning," Meryl answered him in English, trying to subtly remind him to be inclusive of Anna.  "You and Mama should come see a game sometime; they're quite entertaining."

Val came over with his son, Vlad, who climbed on his mother's lap.

"Do they have a good team?" Papa Chmerkovskiy asked her in English.

"Well...they're learning.  Andrei is probably the more gifted athlete, but Vera has more of a mind for the game.  She's constantly yelling directions at him, stopping in the middle of the field and telling him to pass or shoot.  Their coach started playing them at different times, but she just coached him from the sidelines."

"That's my girl," Uncle Val said.

"So they've lost their games?" Papa asked.

"Not officially; they don't keep score, but yes they would have lost the two so far.  They're just having fun learning the game."

Papa snorted. "I guarantee they all know they've lost.  I see six year olds compete all the time. They know who's good and who's bad," he said in Russian.

"Papa, let them have fun in soccer," Val said in English.

"It's more fun if you win," Papa replied.

Meryl kept her mouth shut but looked out to see her goofy children both hanging upside-down from a bar and her husband pretending not to be able to see them.  The kids were laughing so hard, Meryl was afraid they would fall on their heads.  "Papa!" she called out to Maks and shot him a be _careful_ look.  He sent her back a _what are you worried about?_ one.

 

The dinner was a typical Chmerkovskiy affair in which there was twice as much food as the group could ever eat and several loud conversations in Russian and English going on at once.  The women all cleared the table (yes, always the women, and as ridiculously sexist and Meryl found that, it was not a hill to die on, for sure.) They brought back dessert and coffee.  The group lingered at the table for a while, the loud conversations continuing.  Meryl heard her father-in-law say to Maks in Russian, "Tuesday, I need you two hours earlier, at twelve instead of two."

Maks looked at his wife. "I have a commitment until one."

"Is it something you can reschedule?  The accountant will be here and we have to go over the budget for the new year."

"I have a class; I'm taking a class.  I'm taking classes at Rutgers," Maks told his father.

"Why? What for?" the elder Papa looked incredulous.

"Business classes.  I want to get a degree in business, but I have to take prerequisites.  I'm taking some this fall."

Papa laughed.  "You are missing a business meeting to take business classes! That's irony, yeah, Mrs. literature professor?" He asked Meryl in Russian.  She didn't respond; just looked at her husband.

"I think it's great he's taking classes," said Val, who had known for months Maks's plans.  He turned to his brother, "He's always wanted to."

"Ridiculous!  They found an easy mark, wasting your time and money!" Papa was still chuckling.

"I'll be here Tuesday," Maks told his father.  Meryl got up from the table as casually as possible and went into the kitchen to do dishes, seeing red behind her eyes and trying not to explode.  She took her spot beside Anna and started scouring a pot vigorously.  Anna looked at her, surprised at Meryl's aggressive scrubbing.

"You know what?" Meryl said, and threw the sponge into the sink full of soapy water.  "No."  She turned on her heel and headed back to the dining room.

 

An hour later they were half way home.  The twins were each sleeping in their boosters.  Maks hadn't said a word to her since they left the house.  They had quiet music on the stereo to calm the children down, and it had worked on her as well.  Maks checked the mirror to make sure they were both really asleep.

"You know you did more harm than good.  You can't speak to him like that," he told her.  Meryl didn't say anything.  "He's right, anyway.  My responsibility is to run the business."  She continued her silence.  "Do you think you changed his mind?"  She put her hand on his leg.  He sighed and they drove in silence.  After a minute, he took one hand off the steering wheel and put it on top of her hand, still on his leg.  He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently.  "I love you," he told her.


	12. Chapter 12

Late May 2014

 

**Meryl**

 

He was so giddy, he was beside himself. It made her laugh.  It was an all night party on the plane to New York and _Good Morning America_. She would get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink and he would grab her as she passed, pull her on to his lap and laugh.  At some point a few people fell asleep, but Meryl knew that was futile.  When they landed, their bags were sent to a hotel while they took a limo to a few blocks away from Times Square where they got on the back of a flat-bed truck to ride the rest of the way to the studio.  It was the oddest thing that had happened to her in a while--perhaps ever.

The party continued at the show.  They had a few minutes to put on better outfits and then it was interviews and dance parties.  Meryl had forgotten about the dancing and had to run back for her carry on and some shorts she thankfully had tucked away.  Her hair was still in the curly up-do from last night, and she desperately wanted to wash her face.

She and Maks had discussed how to handle dating questions and had decided to politely refuse to answer so as not to lie but also not to encourage people to follow them. The part of Scott Moir was being played by Mark Ballas, who had under his breath snide comments for them any time the camera was off of him.  Meryl tried to attribute it his hurt shoulder.

Maks's mother was there in the crowd and she was every bit as manic as Maks about the win. Mama hugged them both tightly and they made some impromptu plans for dinner that night at Maks's house.  The family would bring all the food.

"Mama, I haven't been in my house in months!  It's not fit for guests!" Maks told her in Russian--Meryl picked up the gist.

"We will clean and get it ready, don't worry.  Just come when you get finished. Both of you, both of you," she looked at Meryl.  It was more of a command than a suggestion.

They had appearances at _Kelly and Michael_ and then an outdoor interview with _Access Hollywood_.  Someone shoved a plate at her with a sandwich and fruit at some point, but she couldn't eat more than a few bites.  Sleep was a much more pressing urge, but that was hours away.  Finally, they made it back to the hotel.  Maks's room was on a lower floor, so he got out of the elevator to grab his stuff and would meet her in her room shortly.

She dragged a chair in front of the mirror and started taking her hair down, removing pin after pin.  Some glitter and confetti fell out.  He knocked after she had taken most of the pins out, but her hair was still stuck up by her ears.  She let him in and fell into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.  They were silent.

"I can't go near the bed; I'll pass out for twelve hours.  Shower?" She asked him finally.  He said nothing, but lifted her dress over her head.  She took off his shirt and pants, and they walked into the bathroom and held each other there.  She looked at him in the mirror.  He was exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes, but he looked content and happy.  She kissed him long and slow, and he unclasped her bra, and she let it fall to the floor.  She stepped out of the shorts and underwear and stood naked before him.  She looked at herself.  In spite of the ridiculous hair, she liked what she saw.  Her body had softened a tiny bit since the Olympics, she realized.  She had maybe only gained two or three pounds, but her breasts looked slightly fuller and her thighs looked healthier than they had. She wasn't quite so much exclusively muscle, bone and skin.  She looked at him.

"Have you even been more beautiful in your life?" She asked him.  She was serious although he didn't answer. That picture of them in their pose that started the free style was stuck in her head.  She ran her hands down his perfect arms through to his hands and then ran her hands back up his perfect chest. She carefully removed his underwear and then put her arms around him and hopped up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist.  He held her still in his arms and buried his face in her hair.  He seemed to be quite overwhelmed with everything.  She thought he might be too exhausted to be aroused, but she felt evidence to the contrary under her ass.  She disentangled herself and knelt before him, taking him into her mouth, holding nothing back.  He groaned and caressed her head while she pleasured him with abandon.  Finally, he stepped back and lifted her up by both shoulders.  He placed her on the counter and spread her legs with his hand, realizing she was ready for him. They made love as tenderly as two people can against a hotel bathroom counter, which was surprisingly tenderly.  They came pretty much simultaneously, which Meryl took as a very positive sign.  He carried her to the shower.

She felt much more human after, and she dried and styled her hair while he napped on the bed.  When she was ready, she woke him.

"How are we getting to your house?"

"I'll call Teddy." 

Meryl went through thousands of messages on her phone while they waited for their ride, overnight bags packed.  Meryl planned to use the hotel as a home base tomorrow in between media, appearances and meetings.  Teddy was there quickly and they headed down to meet him.

 

**Maks**

 

His hold on reality was tenuous.  He was definitely in Teddy's car, on the way to his house.  Jenna was in the front seat, he and Meryl were in the back with their trophies.  Her hair was clean and beautiful, down from the curly style she had worn for the past twenty-four hours.  They had obviously taken that shower.  Had the blow job been a dream? He didn't think so.  He had wanted to talk to her when she was looking that them in the mirror. He had wanted to say, _I meant it--I meant those words I said.  Remember, when we were holding the trophy and I said I love you, I meant that_. He couldn't make himself. And now they were in this car headed to a house full of people and he had missed his chance.

 

**Meryl**

 

There was an overwhelming amount of people and food in his beautiful, if sparsely decorated, house.  A lot of the conversations and hugs and pictures were running together.  She used all of her athletic training not to fall asleep on her plate.  She managed to eat a few bites.  Someone brought a tray of the best looking brownies she had seen in at least a year.  That helped.  Mama and the older female relatives cleaned his kitchen and dining room from top to bottom and then shooed everyone out. 

"They are exhausted!"  If she was scandalized that Teddy was taking Jenna back to the hotel, but Meryl was staying here, she didn't let on.  Meryl passed out on the couch and was vaguely aware that Maks carried her to bed and tucked her in.  The next time she was conscious, an alarm was going off and light was coming in through the window.

"What?"  She mumbled.

"We have to get up and go back to the city.  Go get a shower and I'll find something for us to eat."

"No, I'll be lonely."  He didn't take much convincing.

She teased her hair into a fancy ponytail and put on some sweats.  Her dress for the day was back at the hotel.  He brought in a bowl of some kind of granola cereal and a plate full of buttered toast.

"This is seriously the best thing I've ever eaten," she gave him a buttery kiss.

"I have no tea in the house, we'll hit Starbucks on our way back into the city."

 

**Maks**

After a ridiculous appearance on the Wendy Williams show, she headed off to meet her agent and he went to the flagship studio to have a production meeting about the upcoming show.  She planned to take a cab back when she was finished, so they could take a picture of themselves at the studio with the trophies.  Of course he had still said nothing to her, but the scene at his house this morning was down-right domestic.  It would do for now.  Actions and all, you know? 

"Do we have any tea here?" he asked Sherri, the receptionist at the studio.

"You want tea? Iced tea? I can go get you some."

"No, hot tea, uh, tea bags."

"Oh, yeah, we have some in the break room, how many do you need?"

"Give me ten if we have them."

Sherri came out with ten tea bags in a Ziploc and asked no questions.  Maks stored this away for her yearly review.

A journalist from ABC news arrived at the studio to interview him for Person of the Week and he again wondered what part of this was real.  The journalist also gave him some roller-blades to replace ones that had been stolen when he first arrived as a teenager in the U.S. He made a mental note to discretely pass them on to Sherri to figure out to whom to donate them.  Meryl arrived while he was being interviewed, and they got a picture taken of them together for the broadcast.  

"I checked us out of the hotel and have all of our stuff," she told him quietly. That seemed an encouragingly domestic set of actions as well.  They were flying back to LA in the morning.  

 

**Meryl**

 

They flew back to LA first class, sleeping and talking interchangeably.  They had one more day before she was back to Michigan and he was going on some misguided nature boy trip with the bros.

They took a car from the airport to Malibu so she could pack up her stuff.  The car she had used had been leased by the show and had to be turned in.  Linda helped her fill a large box with things to ship back to her condo in Michigan.  Maks sat in the back yard with Ed and talked about god knows what.  Meryl hugged Linda, who shed a few tears, and Meryl promised to come back whenever she was in town.  They loaded up the car and mailed the stuff at the nearest FedEx.  Maks was really quiet. 

 

**Maks**

 

They went back to his apartment and he cooked a simple dinner.  They went to bed early without comment from Val.  He held her, wanting to speak, willing himself to speak and saying nothing.  They made love twice, slow and sad before she fell asleep on his chest. He tried to clear his mind and pass out but couldn't.  He got up and threw on some clothes.  Val had either gone out or was asleep in his room; Maks was happy it was quiet. 

He looked for something to write on.  There was no stationary of any kind in the house--not even a Christmas card.  He finally found a memo from his landlord about a changing recycling policy for the complex.  He found a pen and sat down at the kitchen table to write on the back of it.  Afterward, he found an envelope in a stack of bills he paid online and sealed the letter.

 

**Meryl**

They drove in two cars to turn hers in, and then he drove her to the airport.  She kissed him like she had all those times that she was heading to a show and he was flying out, except this time they wouldn't see each other for a while.  His schedule was insane for the rest of the summer.  His agent had booked him for everything, taking advantage of all of their good attention.  They would be in New York at the same time for a a day and a half in just over a week.  That was something to hold on to.  He slipped an envelope to her as she was leaving.  He told her goodbye but nothing else and drove away when she passed through the doors of LAX.

It took every bit of willpower she possessed to wait to read the letter, but she did it.  When the plane had taken off for Detroit and the guy next to her was engrossed in his laptop, she discreetly slipped it out of the envelope.

 

_Dear Meryl,_

_When I told you I loved you, I didn't mean thank you for the win, or thank you for the journey, or thank you for your friendship.  I feel all of these things.  I can never thank you enough for all the help you gave me, for everything you did, for every day of the last three months._

_But what I meant when I said I love you was just that.  I love you. I am in love with you.  I have fallen madly, completely in love with you.  It's absurd; it's inconvenient, probably, but there it is._

_Love,_

_Maks_

 

She didn't cry.  She just smiled.  For the next three hours.  Until they landed.  And by that time the boys were off the grid and in the mountains.

Her mother picked her up.

"Which home do you want?"

"Home home.  I'll go back to the condo on Tuesday if that's okay."  It was Memorial Day weekend, and her family always spent most of it outdoors by the lake.  She could think of nothing better.  Once she was settled in a chair, watching the sun set over the lake with a bottle of wine by her side, she pulled out her phone.

 **Meryl** :  Does the chair recognize he is a punk ass bitch for being completely away from any means of communication after giving me that?

 **Meryl** :  I hope Merv is behind you when you receive these.  It will serve you right.

 **Meryl** : I am in literal, physical pain because we are apart.

 **Meryl** : I cannot enjoy the paradise of my backyard because you aren't here.

 **Meryl** :  I might have gone through my list of potential future names I might need and/or use and crossed all of them off that clash with Chmerkovskiy.

 **Meryl** :  I probably should have left that last one off.

 **Meryl** :  For puppies, okay, just puppies.

 **Meryl** :  I have had some wine tonight.

 **Meryl** :  I'm in love with you, too.

 

At three o'clock on Sunday, her phone dinged and it was finally him.

 

 **Maks** :  :)

 **Meryl** :  Seriously? That's it?

 **Maks** :  For now. :)

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

Late May 2018

 

Meryl sat on the big porch in the late afternoon. She had her laptop on the table and was working a little bit, but she was mostly reading pregnancy boards.  Her summer schedule had already begun.  She was teaching one junior English class in the first summer session and was putting in five office hours a week.  The rest of the time she had no obligations other than continuing to research her dissertation. 

Maks's last _Dancing with the Stars_ show had been Tuesday night.  He usually flew back on Tuesday morning, but this week with the two night finale and extra media on Wednesday, he was two days later.  He was due back any minute; he texted her a little over an hour ago that his plane had landed in Newark.  She was starving and hoping he would be good with an early dinner.  She had gone to the farmers' market earlier and had baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie she could hardly wait to slice into.

She heard the back door and she grabbed her stuff and went in to greet him.  He picked her up, made his favorite joke about how heavy she was and kissed her.  He smelled like plane and tasted like salty snacks.

"You're probably not ready to eat, but I'm going to go ahead and fix it." Maks was wrestling around with Charlie, who kept trying to show Maks his new toy.  Maks pretended not to notice until Charlie placed it in Maks's hand.  Maks indulged the golden retriever puppy by throwing the toy around.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her, the world's most ridiculous question.

"Of course."

"What do we have? " he was poking around in the fridge.  "Is this salmon?"

"Yeah, I'm going to broil it so you can relax.  I have spring peas and new potatoes, too, and looky here," She waved the pie around like she was chef to the king.

"Wow, babe, you've been busy," he was absentmindedly going over the mail, which was mostly junk, but he liked her to save it all for him.

"Do you want a shower before dinner or you can fix a drink and talk to me while I finish up?  You don't smell or anything, I just thought..."

"No, I'll sit down."  He opened the bottle of white wine she had bought for tonight and uncorked it. Oh, that beautiful sound, Meryl thought.

Meryl whipped up a dill sauce while the oven preheated and the peas and potatoes cooked.  She got a fresh water and walked over to the table with him, trying not to waddle.  She wasn't comically enormous, but she was pretty close.

"I got a new picture of Charles III," Meryl passed her phone over.

"How old is he? "

"Ten days."

"Tanith looks exhausted," Maks commented.

"I know, Charlie said they've slept about twelve hours in total since they got home from the hospital.  Let's not think about it."

"Come here," Maks said.  Meryl went to his side of the table and sat on his lap.  She leaned back into him, and he put his arms around her belly massaging it. "You look great, Meryl.  You look very healthy."

"Thanks, I feel great."

"And the doctors was fine?" Meryl had gone to her appointment the previous morning.  They had already discussed it in detail on the phone yesterday.

"Yes, everything looks good," she reiterated.  Maks left to take his bag into their bedroom and change before dinner.  Meryl put the sauce on the table, and then just served the plates from the stove and put them on place mats at the table. 

"This looks great, Baby," he said and kissed her on the top of the head before he sat down.  They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"What does you schedule look like for next week?" She asked him. Her class ended every day at 10:00 A.M., and she was hoping to take off one day after that and drive to the shore.  It was still a bit chilly, bit she could picture them eating a picnic lunch and feeling their toes in the sand and then reading and sleeping all afternoon.  

"I'm back to LA on Monday for two days, and then I have three or four west coast appearances. I should be back by the weekend.  Then I think I'm to Chicago, Dallas and Miami.  I'm doing rehearsals for the July studio show tomorrow and Saturday.  June's pretty much booked; I'm going to try to make it back for the weekends." He had a bite of fish, potato, peas and sauce he put into his mouth.  "This is fantastic!" He said with a semi-full mouth.

"When did you decide you were working the whole month?" She asked him, trying to keep a neural tone.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed.  "Why are you working so much?  I thought now that the show was finished you would be here.  I guess I thought you were just going to be out of Fort Lee this summer."

He looked at her incredulously.  "I'm taking the whole month of August and probably September off.  I have to get these appearances in."

"Why? You know she would book you for the opening of a cat food can if you would let her, but why do you want to do it?  I guess I'm just...I guess I assumed that you were backing off some of that since you're not going to be on the show anymore." Maks had recently announced his official _Dancing with the Stars_ retirement.

"Okay, there are two babies coming, but don't worry about money or anything." He laughed.

"How much money do we need?"

"Babe."

"No, I'm serious. We don't have a mortgage, we don't have any debt, we already have college savings; I don't understand why you're killing yourself.  I don't want anything else. I'm perfectly satisfied."

"We could lose everything tomorrow!  I have to make sure we're taken care of."

"And how exactly are we going to lose everything tomorrow?" 

Meryl had put up with his schedule from the moment their own show ended and their life together really began.  She respected his hustling work ethic completely and related to it.  She felt naive for assuming that things were going to change now.  But she was disappointed. He had taken off seven weeks last summer for their epic trip, and it had been the best time of her life.  She was looking forward to being lazy this summer with him before the babies came, but it had been stupid for her to assume.

He laughed with a condescending look in his eye. "I love it when you try to talk about money."

Meryl felt like that was really unfair.  When they married, she had as much money as he did if not a bit more as she was a conservative spender.  She had taken the money from the sale of her condo and invested it, yes, conservatively, but it had earned some.  She had taken most of that money and put it into the payment of the house they had purchased.  She had been completely self-supporting since she was twenty-two.  To this day, she knew the pittance of her stipend from the university and budgeted her personal spending accordingly, including things like the fruit for the pie today.  She didn't say anything, but picked up their plates and walked them over to the sink as he continued.

"Growing up, wasn't it like, you needed a new skating dress, so you and your mother had four made to chose from and then Dad wrote the check?"

"Are you just trying to be mean?" she said in a level tone.

"Oh my god, this is why we can't have discussions! How dare I try to make sure we have enough for our family." He laughed again. Meryl cleaned the kitchen quickly.  He was trying to get her drawn into a fight, but she didn't have the energy.  She could never win anyway, because he would end up just yelling over her. This had all started because she wanted to spend time with him, and now she felt fine about him leaving on Monday.  She quietly gathered her things and headed for the stairs.

"Oh, you're just going to leave.  So typical.  Well, good night, Meryl.  Talk to you sometime, I guess."

She felt tears stinging in her eyes and and kept going.  This would play out exactly like it always did.  He would realize he was being an asshole, but his pride would keep him down there for a few hours.  Eventually, he would fall asleep on the couch, wake-up in the middle of the night, and come crawling into bed full of remorse, they would have amazing make-up sex and everything would be fine for the next few weeks until the pattern repeated. 

She had a decent cry, took a warm shower, put on her comfiest jammies and tucked herself into bed at 9:30.  Exhaustion won out over stress and she went to sleep quickly.

She woke up feeling like she had slept for hours.  She predicted it would be four-thirty or five when she looked at her phone, and she was surprised to sill be in bed alone.  She had to pee desperately, of course.  She was shocked when the time was twelve-fifteen.  She walked to the bathroom and peed for the thousandth time that day.  She was too hot in her pajama bottoms, so she shucked them.  She realized she was hungry, and that the pie was calling her name. She had a pint of vanilla ice cream in the freezer to go on top.  She decided to go wake up Maks and see if she could get him to eat pie with her.  If nothing else, he might be happy to see her in her underwear.

She was halfway down the stairs when she felt a bit of a  pop inside her and a small gush of fluid streamed down her leg. She couldn't be peeing again, right?  In the next thought she realized what it was. She was thirty-two weeks, and her doctor had told her yesterday that while he didn't think the babies were coming any time soon, she should be prepared to go into labor at any time.  The babies were estimated to be about three and a half pounds, so they were certainly viable, but the longer they stayed in the better.  It was clear that wasn't going to happen.  She sat on the stairs for just a moment to get her bearings. 

"Maks!" she cried out, and he was up the stairs in moments.  "I'm pretty sure my water broke." And she started to cry. He looked at her with fear and remorse and pulled her into his arms.

"Shhhh, it's going to be okay." She didn't really believe him, but it made her feel better. "What do we need to do?"

"I'm going to get my phone and see if I can get the on-call doctor.  You pack a bag for us--pack for three days.  I'm going to let Charlie out."  Having a plan, Meryl got busy.  She put the call through and went out with the dog.  She apologized to him and then put him in the kennel.  "We'll get Uncle Val over here, boy."  She kissed him on the nose and shut the door.  She was still leaking fluid here and there.  She changed her clothes and got a beach towel to sit on in the car.  Her phone rang, and she could tell by how muted the ring sounded that she was in shock.  The on-call doctor told them not to panic, that everything would be fine and to meet him at Princeton where they have an excellent NICU.  Maks came around behind her and put his arms around her. They walked out to the car and put the bag in the back.

"I was going to get car seats next week!" Meryl was crying harder.

"Shhh, it's okay.  We'll get them tomorrow.  We'll get them before we have babies in the car, okay?"

"They might be in the hospital for a long, long time," she was weeping.

"Meryl, Baby, it's going to be okay. Let's just get there," he pulled out of the garage and she cried quietly beside him.  "Baby, I'm so, so sorry about tonight."

"It doesn't matter," she told him.

"Yes, it does. I didn't mean that about your dresses. I'm sorry."

"I know.  I shouldn't have even brought it up, I was just looking forward to hanging out with you.  I wanted to go to the beach."

"Well, I guess I'll be around now."

She laughed just a little.  She felt a deep pain in her lower abdomen and groaned loudly.  "Oh, no, it's really real."

"Do I need to pull over?" Maks sounded panicky for the first time.

"No, let's just get there."

Forty-five minutes later she was in a wheelchair going to maternity.  The sleepy but impressively put together doctor assessed her.

"We need to go ahead with the c-section.  The babies sound great, but you're in active labor. With your water broken, it's not something to stop at this point."

A nurse came in to help her get ready and answer their questions. 

"When the babies are born, we will want to get them to the NICU quickly, so don't be alarmed when they are whisked out.  Dad can stay with you or he can go with the babies."

"Go with the babies!" Meryl implored, and he knew better than to argue. She was wheeled into the bright room and prepped quickly. The epidural was unpleasant but took effect right away. A nurse put up a curtain so she wouldn't see her belly cut open.  Maks looked like he was going into battle, but he was strong by her side.  It was a blur; she had little concept of time, but soon she heard one little mewy cry.

"A girl!" A nurse told them.

Another mewy cry.  "And a boy!" Meryl could see the tops of their heads for a second before they disappeared into a team of people.

She and Maks burst into tears.  He kissed her and then she urged him to go. She heard lots of positive sounding things, but it was very hard to focus.  In moments, Maks and the babies were out of the room.

"Ms. Davis, are you okay? Everything looks wonderful! Both babies are big and breathing; that's what we would be concerned about, but they look great." She could hear but couldn't see the doctor.

Meryl couldn't speak, but all of the nurses joined in telling her how big the babies were and how good they looked.  Meryl tried to determine if they were just trying to keep her calm, but she couldn't tell.  The doctor was talking her through the work he was doing, but she was having a harder and harder time hearing.  A nurse told her something about relaxing and...

She woke up in a hospital bed with no idea what time it was.  Maks was asleep in the chair beside her.

"Hey," her voice was scratchy.  She couldn't feel much, but the belly that had gotten in the way of everything lately was gone.

Maks snapped up.  "Hey, how are you?" He came over to her and smoothed her hair.  He pulled out his phone and handed it to her. There they were, sleeping nose to nose in one incubator.  Both had identical blue and pink striped hats.  They looked tiny.  Meryl started to cry.

"No, no, it's good, Babe, they're amazing.  They are getting a little help to breathe, but just as a precaution.  Everyone is impressed with how strong they are."

"When can I see them? I want to see them!"

"The doctor will be in soon, and then you can.  Mama is with them now.  Your parents are on their way; they should be here by tonight.  Val went and picked up Charlie and took him home.  Everything is good.  I haven't said a word about names."

She pulled him on to the bed with her, weakly with one arm and snuggled up as much as she could.  He kissed her tears and then her mouth.  They looked at his phone, and Meryl put one finger on the screen.


	14. Chapter 14

July 2028

**Meryl**

She sat on the bed in her underwear and white tank. He was due in from the airport any minute. In the meantime, she edited an article she was working on with a colleague at the University of Iowa.  Her part was finished; the professor from Iowa was behind. Meryl Davis problems.  She saved her document and opened a garden porn site.  The last few summers she had toiled away in her yard, but it never looked anything like these pictures.  Her tomatoes were just starting to have some life, which was gratifying.

The children had been at camp a week. It was their first year, and they had counted down the days until it was time for Meryl to drop them off at the school where they would board the buses.  It was just a regular summer camp--no dancing, skating, chess, running, debate, algebra or whatever other specialty summer camps had popped up. Three whole weeks in the country being the average ten year-olds that they really were.  Meryl remembered her own tenth summer. She and Charlie trained full-time on break from school and then competed at Lake Placid. They had come in fourth but got great feedback. She had chosen that life for herself but was happy that her children were on a different path.

Maks had been on tour for two weeks.  He was home for the weekend and then back out for a week and a half.  The studio had its big summer show at the very end of the month, and then the family was off to Michigan for most of August.  Meryl had taught the first summer session and was very ready for vacation. If she could just get this Iowa guy do write his shit, she could send the article off and leave work completely behind. 

She heard the door downstairs, and her heart sped up.  They talked multiple times a day, but she missed him terribly when he was away this long. It had been particularly hard to send the children off without him, but it was the preferred arrangement.  He stayed in town almost the whole school year, but summer was for hitting the road and keeping the brand out there.  He still danced every day regardless, and he looked easily ten years younger than forty-eight.  His footsteps were on the stairs, and then he quietly poked his head in their bedroom.  His smile for her took over his face and she sprung off the bed to leap at him. She had planned to be the bored seductress on the bed and gaze at him languidly, but that was abandoned as soon as she saw him. 

He dropped his bag in the corner and took her in his arms.  She wrapped her legs around him.

"I missed you," she whispered. 

 

**Maks**

He had expected her to be up to her elbows in dirt in the backyard wearing huge cut-off overalls, so finding her in their bed was a nice surprise.  Her black bra was conspicuous under the white tank, and she had on black lace underwear as well.  He kissed her and held her as tightly against him as he could. He walked themselves over to the bed and laid her down gently, propping himself on top, resting on his elbows.  He took off her glasses and kissed her nose.

"Hi," he whispered.

"You smell delicious," she told him.  "Plane and soap."  She inhaled at his neck and bit him right below his ear.

"Are you hungry?"

"Well, yes.  I thought we could go to Hugo's?  Sit on the patio?"  She reached for his black v-neck t-shirt and slipped it over his head.  While his arms were tangled up in sleeves she gripped him around the hips with her thighs and flipped them so she was on top. She pulled the tank over her head.

"Any news from camp?" He was running his hands up and down her sides, lingering at the cups of her lacy bra.

"Not since we talked this morning."

"But from what you have heard, they love it?"

He needed reassurance, even as he was glad the house was kid-free at the moment.

"Yes, they love it. Vera has ridden horses every day, and Andrei qualified as a junior lifeguard. They're in summer heaven."  Meryl slipped off of him and lay on her back.  He took off his jeans and rolled back on top of her.  He kissed her, and she caressed his bare back.

"That's good.  They get to phone tomorrow?"

"Yes," she whispered.

Okay, enough.  Her brown curls spread out over the bed.  She looked at him with a little smirk and put her hand into his underwear, grabbing his hardening cock, which responded appreciatively.  He reached around her and unclasped her bra, removing it and taking a breast into his mouth.  She moaned and arched her back.  She was wet in those lace panties, and he took them off of her, kicking his own underwear off, too.  She pulled his hips towards her eagerly.

**Meryl**

He fucked her hard. She cupped her breasts in her hands, and he leaned down to take each in his mouth. She was right on the edge when he lowered his hand and sent her exquisitely over. She cried out, enjoying the rare luxury of an empty house. He came with a loud moan and a shudder.  It felt so good, and she had missed him so much that she giggled softly.  He took one of her rock-hard nipples in his mouth between his tongue and teeth.  Home.  She traced circles on his back, and he lay draped across her, the early evening light coming in and making him look even more beautiful.

She realized she really was quite starving and took his hand leading him into the shower.  She clipped her hair back so they could get the restaurant as soon as possible.  She was thinking mostly about the wine list and perhaps a sirloin as a treat.  After the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and threw on a black sundress and pink sandals with little black bows.  Maks had on dark jeans and another black t-shirt. She felt like they were both wearing their uniforms.

**Maks**

He filled her in on minor dance gossip as they drove to Hugo's.  Nothing earth-shattering, but she enjoyed hearing about the gang.  He was warming her up for news he was dreading telling her.  After a particularly funny drunk Mark Ballas anecdote, he finally got up the nerve.

"Papa expects the twins to dance in the show."

"Together? That would be amusing."  Vera was currently at least three inches taller than Andrei.  "Good luck."

"I'll dance with Vera.  Andrei could dance with Victoria."

"She's six!"

" _And_ she's a lot better than him." Maks added.

"Good news, Andrei! You get to dance in public with your prodigy cousin.  At least she can back-lead.  You get to tell him."

Maks knew his compliant children would do anything asked of them, just like he would have at their age. Meryl took his hand.  That had gone better than he had hoped.

"A tango, maybe?" she laughed.

"Surely he can fake his way through a quick cha cha."

"If your dad or Val dance-shames him, Mama-bear will come out."

"I think everyone is aware of that, Meryl," Maks shot his wife a side glance, relieved that she seemed to be teasing rather than annoyed.

He pulled into a parking area, and leaned over to kiss Meryl before they got out.  They walked hand in hand across the street to the small restaurant.

 

**Meryl**

She was feeling indulgent and let him pick the wine.  It was a slightly heavy Cabernet Sauvignon that she probably wouldn't have chosen, but it tasted wonderful.  They ordered salads and steaks, and this seafood rice thing that was Hugo's specialty. Maks kept one hand on her leg and was rubbing up and down her knee gently.

It was accepted Chmerkovskiy family cannon that the men loved their wives but were unfaithful.  Meryl had heard it again and again from her female in-laws.  Apparently they all assumed that he was screwing his way through America while he was away.  Meryl seriously doubted it, though.  Maybe she was naive, but he had been hers from about the time they had met. She had never had any reason, not even the slightest evidence to suggest that he had cheated on her.  She grabbed his hand under the table, brought it to her lips and kissed it.

"You can't skip the rest of the tour?"

"I wish."

"Maybe I can convince you before the weekend is over."

"Seven more dates, and then it's done."

"I'm glad they gave you the weekend off."

"That wasn't negotiable."

 

**Maks**

Perhaps this was the last year he would go out on the road.  He had thought it before, only to be pulled back in, but he was tired of missing out on summers at home.  It had particularly bothered him to miss out on sending the kids off.  He thought about them and Meryl constantly while he was on the road.  It wasn't fun anymore. It hadn't been in a long time.  Meryl was right anyway; they had enough money, the studios were doing fine.  Val was perfectly capable of being the public face.  Maks would continue to teach and manage the business, but he finally felt finished with the rest. 

Meryl talked about her article and her frustrations collaborating on it while they ate.  Maks decided to wait until the tour was over to tell her he was done.  He didn't keep secrets from her, but he figured she would forgive him this time.

 

**Meryl**

They walked a bit downtown after they had finished.  Maks asked her if she wanted to get ice cream, but she was stuffed from dinner.

"Anyway, it would be a little sad without the kids, yeah?"

He nodded and pulled her close, his arm around her.

"Just take me back home to bed," she told him.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Late December 2014/Early January 2015

French Polynesia

 

**Maks**

 

He woke up with his face smashed against the window of the plane, no idea how long he had been asleep.  His last memory was of Meryl working on math problems and aggressively ignoring him.  He looked over to find her asleep as far away from him as it was possible to be in first class airline seats. She had a shawl pulled around herself and had put her study materials away.  He sighed.

He had picked a fight with her at LAX.  She had met him with a huge smile and a huge carry-on at their gate.  Her flight from Detroit had been slightly delayed and they were both worried about her making the connection, but there she was with time to spare. They didn't show affection in public so there was no kiss or even a hug.  He took her bag, and it was dramatically heavier than it should have been for three bikinis, three dresses and two pairs of shoes--their joke of how much she would need for this trip.

"What is this?" He asked her with a slightly annoyed tone.

"What?"

"This weighs seventy pounds." He suddenly realized why it was heavy and he moved from annoyance to irritation.  "Between semesters, yeah?"

"I take the GRE in three weeks.  Sorry.  I have to practice the math.  Just a little bit a day, I promise."

He should have teased her and moved on at that point.  But no.  He had lashed out, hissing at her under his breath. He had told her explicitly that she was ruining their trip.  He pouted.  They hadn't spent a weekend together in months that she didn't spend studying at all hours. He had been looking forward to having her full attention, but here she was with a bag full of books, and she wasn't even in classes for weeks! She refused to play along and had pulled out her massive GRE study book as soon as they were in their seats.  She declined a cocktail and got to work.

It had been almost ten months since they had met.  He'd had one relationship in his life that had lasted over a year, and it had been in its death throws by ten months.  Really, they had only stayed together because they had an apartment they didn't want to break the lease on, and they were in the middle of a competitive ballroom season. Right on time he was ruining this, too.

He thought about his life from a year ago.  He had met with the DWTS producers just before Christmas.  They were not subtle about wanting him back for the upcoming season, but he didn't want to do it.  He did have another season on his contract, but they couldn't force him to appear this time.  They promised him a good partner.  It wasn't convincing.  He didn't like himself on the show.  He was incapable of hiding his frustration, and it played out the same every time.  There was no reason to put himself through it again.  Lizzy, of course, disagreed. 

"There's no better way to keep up your profile.  You have to know that."

But it wasn't worth it.  Going back there and expecting a different outcome was ridiculous. The producers didn't give up, though. They must have been convinced that Derek was taking a season off because they pursued Maks relentlessly through the winter.  By mid-February, it was clear that they were going to put him with Meryl.  He decided it was probably the best offer he would ever get and relented.  It looked really promising, too.  She had a Russian coach and was dating the son.  She was not his physical type at all, so he could keep it completely professional.  She was undeniably insanely talented.  She had a fun personality that he connected with when he watched her interviews.  She looked ten years younger than she was and had a little girl voice as well. She had _little sister_ written all over her. Charlie seemed completely unaffected by it all, too, and obviously had a great sense of humor.  It was fool proof.

A week before they met, he saw her on _Colbert_ and then at the Academy Awards parties.  It threw him slightly.  She was very beautiful, which came through more clearly when she wasn't in skating costumes or Team USA jackets.  Still, she wasn't his type; not even close.  He predicted people would fall in love with her on the show, though.  That would be great for them.

Before their first meeting, on camera and official, he was briefed by producers on what he should cover with her.  She wasn't with Charlie romantically, she had worked with Derek--easy.  He wondered if she would bring up the boyfriend.  He went into full-on charming mode when she walked in.  She was more petite in person than on camera--so easy. But immediately, it wasn't what he had predicted. She wasn't a baby sister. She was tiny with a tiny voice, but she was a woman with poise beyond her years.  He flirted ever so charmingly, and she gave it right back.  She didn't mention the boyfriend.  She _wasn't_ his type, but she was sexier than he could have imagined.  Oh, dear.  He fell for her in about fifteen minutes.  He had a new type.

Through some miracle, she had fallen for him, too.  The more of himself he revealed, the more she seemed to love him. It was the weirdest thing ever, and he was obviously determined to fuck it up.  He slumped back against the window and tried to go back to sleep.  The next thing he knew, Meryl was bumping his arm to wake him up for landing.

"Hey," he said sleepily. 

"Hey." Matter of fact.

"I'm sorry, Babe."

She sighed.  "I'm sure you are."

"No, really." He put his arm around her and put his head on his shoulder.  She didn't shrug him off, but she didn't join in, either.

"Here's the thing, Maks. I want to get into Columbia, and I'm going to have to kill the GRE to do that.  I haven't taken math in years."

"I know; I'm sorry.  I always get a little tense before trips."

"It's really annoying."

"I know," he was rubbing her arm and she didn't stop him.

"Do you know why I want to go to Columbia? So I can move to New York." She didn't wait for a response.  "You might want to remember that the next time you go off on me."

"I know.  I try not be an asshole..."

"However," she looked at him and smiled slightly. "I do appreciate you lashing out and getting it over with rather than simmering in resentment for hours."

"You like my lashing out?"

"No, you can be a total jerk, and I'm over it, but it's not as bad as having no idea what I've done to piss someone off."

"I'll take it?"

"You could try to be less mean when you are angry, for sure.  I don't think studying a couple hours a day is going to ruin the trip, and I don't always ruin trips."

"I know you don't.  I won't say a word about you studying.  I can't wait for you to move to New York."  She took his hand.

 

**Meryl**

 

They made it through customs and found their shuttle.  Tahiti was absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect.  She had been in the Midwest or east coast for a month, and this was paradise.  Maks was playing the contrite puppy to the hilt, which she would take. When he had surprised her with this trip at Christmas, her first thought had been how she was going to study for the GRE, so she knew she wasn't blameless in the dynamic. She should have thought about how romantic it would be and how amazing it would be to get away after a month of skating shows and finals.  They had exchanged gifts two days before Christmas, and then she flew back to Michigan to spend the holiday with her family.  She had missed him and wished they had found a way to split the time between Michigan and New Jersey.  She didn't want to have another Christmas without him.

He always claimed not to mean whatever he lashed out about, but she knew that he did.  The truth always came out.  It let her know how he felt, at least.  She handled her anger very differently. She would shut down and be silent and walk away if she could, or ignore him if she couldn't.  She knew it must be frustrating for him.

A year ago, she had been at the peak of Olympic training insanity.  The atmosphere at the rink was uncomfortable, no one was happy and Meryl was counting the days until it was over.  Fedor dumped her, and Charlie and Tanith were more in love than ever.  Then everything turned around.  The Olympics were just about perfect, and then Maks.  Okay, it had been lust at first sight, but she had fallen for him, the real him, really quickly.  In spite of his outbursts, he was one of the kindest, most giving people she had ever met. It was why his friends all adored him, and it was why she did, too.  He was also the first person in forever to see her as just Meryl.  Not as half of Meryl and Charlie, not as an athlete, but just as a person. Every other person in her life who saw her like that had known her for years. He had recognized her Merylness immediately. She leaned against him affectionately as they pulled into the hotel, and he seemed very relieved.

They had to wait for a few minutes before they could get into their room, so they had cocktails and a light...meal..was it lunch time? She had no idea. 

"This is beautiful, Maks.  Thank you. I love it."

"I wanted to go somewhere neither of us had ever been so we could experience it all together for the first time."

Their room was gorgeously furnished with a patio exit right on to the beach.  They held each other in the shower, and he carried her to the bed.

"I love you, Babe," he whispered.  I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered back. "I love you."

He kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him.  He kissed a trail down her sternum, down her belly and beneath.  She opened her legs and let him ravish her with his tongue.  She grabbed on to his head and moaned, pulling him up just before she was about to come, wanting him to fuck her over the edge.  He took his time, though, and kissed her deeply again and then clasped one hand in hers before he entered her.  He looked her in the eyes and told her he loved her again and again, and the raw emotion almost brought her to tears. She wrapped her legs around him and held him as tightly against her as she could.  She cried out as she came, and he pulled her into his arms, buried his face against her neck and joined her.

After a beachy afternoon and evening, they headed back to get ready for dinner and New Year's Eve festivities at the hotel.  Meryl wore a violet swing dress over a silver bra, and Maks was all in white.  They had fish, local vegetables and fruit and a bottle of very good white wine.  Meryl spoke French to the waitstaff.  The party was outside, and there were ten or so other couples, none of whom seemed to recognize Maks and Meryl, which was delightful.

The band played a mixture of traditional Polynesian music and party classics. They danced to every song.  At midnight, there was the traditional countdown.  Maks kissed her, and the band played _Auld Lang Syne_ , then segued into _Happy Birthday_.  She smacked him on the arm and started to say, "How..." as the waiters brought out a chocolate cake with ten candles on it.  She laughed and hugged him.

"It was supposed to look like a two and an eight, but I think something got lost in translation," he laughed.  She blew out the candles, and the waiters cut cake for everyone at the party.  He pulled out a velvet jewelry box from his pocket. 

"Happy birthday, Baby."

Inside was a thin gold chain with a gold circle and a single pearl suspended in the middle.  It was delicate, subtle and beautiful, exactly her style. He turned over the circle. On the back at twelve o'clock was a tiny _M_ , a _D_ at four, and a _C_ at eight.   He fastened it around her neck and took her in his arms.  The band started a new song, upbeat and familiar and they danced again. Maks pulled her close and held her tightly as they danced to the fast tempo.  On his face was that goofy expression that indicated he was having the most fun, and he swung her around the floor.

_I love you more today than yesterday._

_But not as much as tomorrow._

 


	16. Chapter 16

Early February 2018

 

**Meryl**

 

Meryl's last class that Tuesday was her English for Juniors. All non-English majors who hadn't earned an A in Freshman English had to take it. It consisted of an essay every two weeks and four novels.  They were about a third of the way through the first one, _American Pastoral_ by Philip Roth.  Only about a fourth of her class seemed to have any idea about what was going on in the book.

"If you can get your hands on an audio version," Meryl implored, "It is truly a masterpiece.  The late Ron Silver reads it--you can listen to it at the gym or walking through campus.  You can download it, and the New Brunswick public library has hard copies.  You won't be sorry."

It was a fine line between sparking them and patronizing them.  She wasn't sure which was prevailing today. No one seemed particularly inspired.

"Anyway, readers' journals on Thursday, and don't forget your persuasive essay is due a week from today. I will be in my office for the next hour, and you know you can always email me for help.  See you on Thursday."

The students filed out, none of them looking at her. She sank into the chair behind the generic teachers' desk and put her head down, steeling herself for the walk back to the office.  The cool of the wood like product against her cheek was comforting.  Keeping her head down, she gathered her materials slowly, one book at a time.  Finally she rose and scooped them up.  One foot and then the other, out the door, down the hall up two flights finally to her shared office.

"You look awful," Edward offered.

"That's accurate." Meryl put her books down and went to the lounge for a cup of tea, feeling guilty about the caffeine but not guilty enough to skip it.  She slumped on the sofa while she waited for the electric kettle.  She sat up straight, though, when one of the professors walked in.  It was Dr. Adams, American literature specialist.  

"Ms. Davis."

"Professor."

No small talk, thank goodness.  She took her mug and headed back down to her office.

"Don't breathe on me, seriously." Edward was very large with short red hair, a full red beard and giant black glasses. He wore long, hand-knitted by his own hand scarves every day.  He had given one to Meryl and one to Maks for Christmas.

"It's not contagious," she told him, but he was engrossed in whatever was on his computer.  She had dropped enough hints about her pregnancy without overtly telling him.  He was either clueless, completely self-absorbed, or doing a whole involved bit about refusing to acknowledge her condition.  She wasn't going to make an official announcement until after the ultrasound next week. Meryl logged on to her own computer and stared at her dissertation notes while she dutifully waited for her obligatory hour to be up.  At four-thirty on the dot she shut down the computer and grabbed her coat and bag.

"Bye, Edward.  See you tomorrow." She left before he could offer any more commentary. 

The house was less than a mile away.  It was freezing outside, but the fresh air felt good, or at least made her feel a little better. She let herself in the back door and walked through their beautiful, new kitchen--finally finished.  She hoped that one day she would feel well enough to cook.  She placed her coat on its hook and headed upstairs, straight for the bathroom.  She pulled off her boots, jeans, long sweater and underthings.  Her hair was in a bun at the nape of her neck, and she left it pinned.  She turned on the water in the shower and then climbed over the rail and sat in the middle, letting the water hit her square in the back.  She curled up in a ball and rolled over on her side, holding her head above the water and breathing the misty air deeply.  She stayed that way until the water was tepid.  She wrapped herself in a towel and gathered up her things, which she dumped in the corner of her closet and put on clean, soft jammies and collapsed on the bed, pulling a quilt over her.  It seemed less pathetic than actually getting under the covers.  She pulled the quilt over her head and concentrated on not throwing up.

All of her friends who had already been pregnant had either skipped their way through the whole thing or had hyperemesis gravidarum, requiring IV fluids and hospitalization.  None had experienced the unrelenting slight nausea and fatigue that Meryl was dealing with.  She got plenty of sympathy but little practical advice.  She had tried all the traditional remedies with no success.  She was resigned with more than a little self-pity to being miserable for...hopefully not forever.

Maks was due home in about an hour.  He had worked out of the main studio today, and Meryl hoped he would text when he was on his way home so she would have time to get up and put some clothes on as to not look so defeated. 

He had been incredibly patient through this whole ordeal. He was more nurturing than she would have even imagined. He was more nurturing than she was, to be sure.  He hadn't complained about anything.  She was no help in the kitchen, and he had taken over responsibility for the food, with some help from Mama.  They had a part time cleaning person that they hired for an additional day.  Meryl had been in bed almost every moment she had been home since the week before Christmas.  He hadn't said a word about it.

They'd had sex only once since she got the positive test.  He had been slightly weirded out about pregnancy sex, which Meryl realized was surely a good thing as she couldn't even think about it at the moment.  They still showered together every morning, and he let her lean on him while he helped her with her hair.  He had never even tried anything, which--since she tended to throw up in the shower--was not surprising.  He would help her clean up and carry on.

She must have fallen asleep because she heard him come in the now completely dark room whistling a Mayer Hawthorne song.  She glanced at her phone and realized she's been asleep for an hour and a half.  He climbed into bed and wrapped himself around her.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey.  Jive today?"

"Yeah.  How'd you know?"

"You're not whistling a samba."

He laughed and squeezed her tightly. "Your hair is all wet."

She reached around to her bun.  "I took a shower when I got home."

"Mama sent me with some food."

"That's so nice," Meryl said, perfectly sincerely.  Her mother-in-law had been amazing the past few weeks.  She'd told Meryl how sick she had been at the beginning of her pregnancies, too.  Both the elder Chmerkovskiys tended to be super helpful, as long as you did things their way, but through this Mama had been just plain, agenda-free helpful.  "Come on down, and let's fix plates.  I'm actually kind of hungry." Meryl led the way.

 

**Maks**

 

He woke to her alarm.  She reached out for him, and he pulled her in.

"Morning," he said, and she whimpered in response.  They lay there for a few minutes, and then she wordlessly got up and went in to the bathroom.  He let her pee in private and then joined her as she was turning on the shower.  He relieved himself and then climbed in to join her.

"Bad this morning?" He asked her.

"Not especially," she said with little enthusiasm.

"Early class on Wednesday?" He was still getting used to her new schedule. 

"9:30."

"Do you want to wash your hair?"

"Not today."

"Okay, just relax." He massaged her back, willing himself not to become aroused.  She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, the first time they had kissed in a while.  She climbed out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her, leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind her. He gave into his thoughts and started to stroke himself, feeling vaguely guilty about jerking off with her in the next room, but not guilty enough to stop.  He pictured them making love during one of those long afternoons in Rome last summer, but as he got closer, the image morphed into the time she had sucked his cock in the bathroom of a nightclub in Latvia.  He came with a shudder.  He finished the shower and joined her in the bedroom.

She had put on a dress, tights and boots, and she looked a little less green around the edges today.

"That looks nice."

"That's a stretch," and she laughed just a bit.  "Are you staying local today?"

"I'm actually driving to Connecticut. We're doing a masterclass."

"Tell Tony and Lina I said hi."

She did quick hair and makeup and headed out the door.

"Breakfast Meryl."

"As soon as I get there I'll grab something, I promise."

"I'll make you some toast."

"Okay," she conceded. She made herself a quick cup of tea, which Maks suspected was the real reason for her easy surrender.  He scrambled an egg and put half an orange on her plate as well.  She sat down and ate most of it. She thanked him and kissed him again on the way out. Were they through the worst of this? 

He threw his dance bag in the car and headed north for the two hour drive.  He had another month and a half before he would have to be in LA once a week for the show.  He was already worried about leaving her and had thought about asking both mothers to take turns staying with her while he was gone.  It sounded ridiculous when he thought about.  She could take care of herself.  He felt so much responsibility toward her and the baby, he didn't know what was and wasn't reasonable.

Anyway, he dreaded the start of another show and was glad this was his last season.  He didn't think he would miss the perks although there were days it was all very flattering.  Meryl had no use for it.  She hardly Tweeted from her official account anymore, more often using one she had created for school and only close friends knew about so far.  Once a month or so she would pull up the old Meryl account and re-tweet something from Charlie or post about a studio event, or very rarely, a skating event.  Appearances where she had to be _The Meryl Davis_ made her uncomfortable.  Having spent most of his life around people desperate for fame, it was baffling to him.

He turned from the news station to music to try and drown out his thoughts.  He pulled into Tony's branch, parked and glanced at his phone.

 **Meryl** :  Thanks for breakfast. Thanks for everything.  LOVE you.

He smiled, grabbed his bag and headed in.


	17. Chapter 17

Early August 2014

 

**Maks**

Boston

 

They were down to a handful of shows on this leg of the tour.  Maks was ready to be finished for a while.  It was fun, but he longed for a day off. Val was driving him a little bit nuts.  So hyper, so on, all the time when they were away from home.  Sharna was keeping him under control, thank goodness.  The Val whisperer.  In the airport last night she had sat next to Maks and sighed.

"I miss Charlie and Meryl."

He just put his arm around her. To say anything would be stating the obvious.

Maks chided himself for being such an old fart about Val.  He himself could be a little crazy on tour, as evidenced by all the fun he was having with Karina, which was a miracle in and of itself.  They had gotten along just fine last summer doing the show, but now they had finally reached that friend place. He wouldn't have believed it was possible two years ago. 

He looked at his younger brother, running around back stage. 

"Val, sit down, have some water, pace yourself."

"Okay, Papa."

"You should be so lucky, Papa was here."

"Relax, dude."

That this kid was actually older than Meryl...Maks had no idea how that was possible.  Of course, Meryl was more mature than himself, too. As if on cue, his phone dinged.  A picture of Meryl, Charlie and another guy popped up.

 **Meryl** :  NASCAR skating event this morning!

 **Meryl** : Skate around.  You're next.

She had an evil looking emoji and the end of that one.

 **Maks** :  Not likely.

 **Meryl** :  Resistance is futile.

He would see her again in five days.  She was flying to New Jersey. They had spent last weekend at her condo.  They had planned to see a movie but never made it out of the house except for groceries and coffee. If this weekend played out the same way, he would be perfectly happy.

He opened Instagram, and there was the same picture.  One of the top comments was a slam about Meryl's looks. His first thought was that he hoped that she posted the picture and didn't examine it again.  His second thought was what he would like to say to the person who wrote it--totally counter-productive and not going to happen, but he strung an artful list of comebacks in his mind.  Then he saw Meryl had already responded in her sweet, classy way.  He slammed his phone into his bag and walked toward the dressing room, almost running into still active Val.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Val punched him in the arm. Maks smacked him back, harder than just playing. "Maks, what the fuck?"

"Sorry. I'm just pissed off at the internet."

"What this time?"

"Meryl is ugly."

"You have to stop reading the comments." Val shook his head.  Maks could tell he had seen Meryl's post. The brothers went into the dressing room, and Val finally grabbed a water, handing one also to Maks.  "Meryl is so ethereal, ephemeral, like, you know, non-traditional beautiful, and..."

"What does that mean?" Maks had no patience for Val's word-soup special articulation.

"It's a compliment!  Not everybody is going to get it.  That's what makes her so special."

Maks looked at him with a baffled look on his face.  "Meryl is straight up beautiful.  No qualifiers. No traditional/non-traditional bullshit.  She is gorgeous."  He took out his phone again and showed Val a picture from last weekend in Michigan.  They had been sitting on Meryl's deck grilling their dinner. The sun was setting, and it shone through Meryl's hair, turning it ten shades of red and deep brown.  She wasn't full-on smiling, but she looked blissful.  He had already showed this picture to Val, but he apparently needed to see it again.

Val just smiled. "Oh, brother."

"What?"

"You are so far gone."

 

**Meryl**

Canton

 

Meryl was getting a pedicure with Brooke.  It was lovely and relaxing, and she wished she had scheduled a mani as well.  She was scrolling through her phone, glad she had been friends with Brooke long enough that they didn't have to chat incessantly.  There was a shorthand.  She saw an amazing puppy pic--white bulldog, just like you know who, and she wanted to text it immediately to Maks, but he'd had a show last night and was no doubt still asleep.  She loaded it anyway, to text in a couple of hours.

"Have you seen this Derek thing?" Brooke was squinting at her phone.

"Derek Hough? No."

"You should probably skip it."

"What is it?"

"An interview.  He calls Maks insecure and says that you were the coach and Maks the student.  And Showmance."

"What?"

Brooke handed over her phone, and Meryl scanned the article for the relevant parts. Brooke wasn't exaggerating.

"What the hell?" Meryl threw an apologetic look at her nail tech for the swear. She felt her face getting hot and her heart beating fast.  "Why would he say that?"

"Jealous?  I don't know--is Derek the jealous type?"

"Derek is the competitive type.  But this is just catty.  You know, Maks never, the whole time I've known him, he's never said anything but nice things about Derek. Maybe there is an old feud or something, but they got along perfectly at the show.  I mean, as far as I was aware."

"Well, that's just weird then." Brooke took back her phone and looked over at her friend. "You have a very mama bear thing going right now." Brooke laughed.

"Yeah," said Meryl as she started typing on her phone.

 **Meryl** :  Hey, Derek.

He was probably still asleep, but Meryl wanted him to see her text as soon as he woke up. Surprisingly, she got almost an immediate response.

 **Derek Hough** :  Hey, Meryl!  How are you?

 **Meryl** :  I'm okay.  Listen, I read your interview, and I need to clear some things up.  Maks did ALL the choreography for us.  He was the team leader--in everything.  I was the student the whole time. He was the one with the vision.

Maks being left out of the Emmy nominations burned her up again as she was typing.  She didn't wait for a reply.

 **Meryl** :  And I don't know what you mean about being insecure.  Was there some doubt along the way? Some hesitation?  Sure.  But I think you would agree that it's just a part of the artistic process. I mean, that's always the way it's been for Charlie and me and our coaches.

 **Derek Hough** :  Meryl, I think I might have been misquoted.  I'm looking up the interview.

Sure.  Oh, of course.

 **Meryl** :  I just want you to know that he had an artistic vision the whole time.  I was just there to help facilitate it. 

 **Derek Hough** :  I was talking specifically about the week you helped him out--remember, when he was getting frustrated and you helped him out.  In the past situations like that have escalated.

 **Meryl** : Of course, you know, that was a package on a reality show, and may not represent real reality.

She pounded out a winky emoji. Asshole.

 **Meryl** : There were far more times that he was talking me down, comforting me, helping me with our travel and crazy schedule.

Unlike you and Amy, who were in LA the whole bloody time. She wasn't going to touch the relationship thing because it wasn't his business anyway, but thanks for assuming the worst.  Take a seat next to Ballas on the jerk-wad couch.

 **Derek Hough** :  I'm really sorry, Meryl.  It didn't come out the way I meant it.  I was trying to talk about how special you were for Maks.

 **Meryl** :  Okay, but you see how that's not the way it came across.

 **Derek Hough** :  I do, and I will try to fix it.

 **Meryl** : Thank you, Derek.

Meryl sighed and looked over at Brooke, who was shaking her head and laughing.

"What?"

"He's lucky."

"Derek?  NO.  I let him have it."

"Maks."


	18. Chapter 18

May 2017

New Brunswick, New Jersey

 

Meryl and Maks had greatly underestimated how much work this move would be.  They were selling most of the furniture from the old house--Maks's house and then their house for a year. His modern stuff wouldn't look right in their new to them but built in the 1820s home.  Meryl, always the frugal one, cringed at how much they were spending on new furniture for the whole house.  She had held off on a few major things like tables for the kitchen and dining room, hutches and the like, telling him she was going to look for some antique pieces but mainly because refurnishing the bedrooms and the living room was already appallingly expensive.  And soon they were gutting the kitchen.

They had paid for the house outright; Maks had paid off the mortgage on the old house, and Meryl and saved all of the money from the sale of her condo. However, between buying, fixing up and furnishing this house, it was by far the most money Meryl had ever spent. It made her a little bit queasy.  Did they really need to completely re-do a kitchen that had been renovated about a decade before? But both of them had become used to an ultra-modern kitchen.  Maks asked her what the point of spending all of this money was if they didn't truly love the house, and he was right.

The last time she had moved, they'd had about twenty helpers shutting down her apartment near Columbia and schlepping her few things to New Jersey.  This time everyone was busy or out of town.  Her parents had come in two weeks ago for her Columbia graduation, and she probably wouldn't ask them to help with moving anyway.  Mama and Papa were on a cruise, and Val was doing press for the end of the season.  He had made the finals, should have won and was in much demand.  The rest of the close gang were scattered around either in LA or doing shows.  Meryl and Maks hired a moving company like real adults.

The movers had just left, and the couple was faced with a house full of boxes and furniture still wrapped in plastic. There were boxes Meryl hadn't looked at since she had packed up her condo.  All the kitchen stuff had been put in the basement until after the renovation. Meryl had packed and labeled a box of essentials they could use before the reno began, but of course it had been put...somewhere not in the kitchen or basement. The rest of the house--she hardly knew where to begin.

They worked for hours sorting and walking up and down the stairs.  Maks was wearing an old pair of those drop-crotch dance pants.  They were, mercifully, out of fashion finally. But Maks still wore them around the house.  Meryl had actually owned a pair or two back during the show--if there was any doubt about her feelings towards Maks at the time, that should have cleared it up.  As ridiculous as she thought that whole trend was, in retrospect, of course, Maks in those pants made her feel nostalgic for that time, and of course for their last dance.  The image most often in her mind from that dance was Maks bent over backward like a contemporary dancer, every muscle defined and engaged.  And here he was today, even more beautiful, if that was possible, sweaty shirt abandoned some time ago looking exhausted.  And hot. 

He was in the master bathroom, installing some shelves.  The bathroom had been redone before the former owners had put the house on the market, so there was very little work Meryl and Maks had to do in here.  She brought in a basket of clean linens and began placing them in the built in cabinets. 

"I'm about ready to call it a day," Maks said over the noisy drill. 

"Sounds good to me.  I'm thinking I'm going to wake up tomorrow and that kitchen box will magically appear."

"That will definitely happen.  Thai tonight?"

"Yes, please."  But she couldn't resist walking up behind him and putting her arms around his waist.  Even sweaty and dirty he was irresistible.  She had noticed hours ago that he had nothing on under the pants, and she had been preoccupied ever since with taking them off.  It had gotten her through sorting scores of boxes and unpacking the two other bathrooms.  She placed her hand into the waistband, and he put down the drill.  She was kissing a line across his shoulder blades.

"We should try out the shower?" He asked her.  She slipped his pants down and grabbed his cock with one hand, running the other one up and down his torso and leg.  Yes.  He didn't move toward it yet, though.  He reached around and pulled her closer to him.  She brushed her tongue along his back, and then she moved away, opening the door to the shower and turning on the water. She took off her shorts as her pulled her tank over her head and carried her over the ledge into the shower.

He embraced her under the water and kissed her deeply as she rubbed his back up and down.  There was a little ledge built into the back wall of the shower, like a step. She hadn't been sure what it was for--it wasn't really big enough to sit on.  Perhaps for shampoo bottles, although that would require a whole lot of bending.  Or perhaps its purpose was exactly how they used it.  Maks placed her on the ledge, facing the wall.  She splayed her hands on the tile as he reached around and rubbed her.  She bored her ass into him and he groaned.  He entered her from behind, keeping that hand there.

"Fuck!" Meryl cried out. "Fuck me!" He did, harder and harder. She came with the hot water spraying her hands on the tile, and she rammed backwards into him as he came with a loud moan.

"You are so fucking hot," he whispered breathlessly as he recovered, turning her around and holding her, letting the water fall on them both.

They realized there was no soap in there with them.  Meryl grabbed a towel and started looking through boxes, finally finding a bottle of hand soap that would suffice.  Maks was laughing at the absurdity of it all.

"This is it.  We're not moving again," he told her.

"I agree. We're settling here."

They finished the business part of the shower and shared Meryl's one towel. Maks threw on clothes to go get the food, and Meryl decided she wouldn't sleep until this bathroom was unpacked with at least shampoo and toothbrushes.  Three boxes in, she heard her phone ding.  It took moving two boxes to find it in the pocket of her discarded shorts.

 **Charlie** :  What are you doing?

Unpacking my bathroom. Naked.

 **Meryl** :  Hell is moving.

 **Charlie** : Oh, is that this weekend?

 **Meryl** :  Yes, but feel free to distract me.

Her phone rang.  "Hey, Chuck."

"Hey, Merle."  Meryl glanced at the time, it was 5:00 in LA where Charlie and Tanith lived while he was in law school.

"What are you doing?" She asked him as she walked into the bedroom rifling through boxes for clothes.  It felt a little bit too elicit talking to him in her current lack of dress.  She found some of her own underwear and a t-shirt of Maks's. She put Charlie on speaker so she could continue working in the bathroom.

"Nothing.  Homesick I guess."

"Tanith?"

"Out of town for work."

"Olympics stuff?"

"Yeah." His voice was flat.  "She's in Detroit, out with friends."

"Your internship starts...?"

"Monday.  I wish I was in Michigan.  I wish we were all at the lake."

"That sounds wonderful.  Are you going to be busy all summer?"

"Yeah."

He sounded very sad.  "Next summer, after you graduate, we have to take a week at the cabins, okay? Everybody." She said and stopped unpacking and picked up the phone, taking him off speaker.  "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Meryl, I'm fine.  Just lonely, I guess."

Meryl wondered why he wasn't talking about this with Tanith instead of her, but she didn't want to ask him outright. "Aw, I wish you were here.  There are about a million boxes you could help me with." She tried to keep it light.

"Is Maks around?"

"He's getting dinner."

"Oh, I won't keep you."

"It's fine Charlie."  Neither of them said anything.  Meryl wanted to tell him to call some friends and make plans, but didn't want to be presumptuous. 

"Well, it was good talking to to, Meryl.  Good luck with the unpacking."

"Thanks, Charlie, love you."

"You, too."

She managed to find the necessities for the bathroom before Maks arrived with the food and a six pack of beer, which turned out to be the best she ever tasted.  They found the box with the sheets and made the new bed just before they collapsed.  Meryl was happy, blissfully in love, that good kind of exhausted you get after really satisfying work, but also slightly worried about Charlie.  She put her arms around Maks and drifted off.


	19. Chapter 19

October 2030

 

For the second day in a row, Meryl didn't want to get out of bed.  She did, of course, just like she had yesterday.  She got out of bed and woke up the twins for school like every day.  Andrei bounded up, right into the shower, and Vera needed lots of coaxing.  She took her showers at night in able to get a few extra minutes in bed and because her long, thick hair took forever to dry. 

"Come on, Girlie, uniform on, hair done and down for breakfast.  Smells like..." Meryl gagged involuntarily, "Something wonderful I'm sure."

Her daughter moaned and put one leg out of the bed.

"There you go.  Hurry up."

Meryl took a quick shower herself, trying not to dry heave.  The shower made her feel a little better.  That thought flashed something in her head.  The last time she had felt like this... The last time she had...  Fuck.

Fuck.  She was 43.  Almost 44. She was on a semi-sabbatical this year--not teaching, but coming into the office to work.  The twins were in seventh grade, and she was coaching their cross country team and being more of a hands-on mom.  Maks was working more at the flagship as his dad was easing into retirement. Everything was settled.  She and Charlie hadn't skated for Olympics related things this past year; she had done one, brief interview and that had been it. They maintained a close relationship, and their kids were like cousins, but they hadn't skated together in years--because she felt like she was too old.  Fuck.

She dressed quickly, put her hair up, and carefully made up her face to hide what was going on inside. But she'd had a period! Two weeks ago!  Hope sprang into her heart that this was all a little virus or something. It was dashed when she remembered how light the period had been.  She had chalked it up to the beginning of menopause.  Now she was realizing that it was hardly anything at all.

When she arrived in the kitchen, Andrei was already there looking over some science notes and eating a bowl of oatmeal.  Maks handed her a mug of tea and she fell into his chest.

"Still feeling bad?"

"I'm fine," she said to his chest.

He felt her forehead. "No fever."

"I know, I'm fine."  She walked back to the stairs.  "VERA!"

"I'm coming. God." Her daughter huffed down the stairs.  She was four inches taller than Meryl.  Her curly hair was tamed into a big clip on the back of her head.  She looked at least three years older than 12. 

"Cheer up, Girlie. Papa has oatmeal and toast."

"Yay," she dead-panned, but she was having trouble maintaining her grumpiness. 

"Good morning, sweet girl," Maks said to Vera, as he set her breakfast in front of her.

"Morning, Papa.  Thanks."

"Ready for the test?" Meryl asked Andrei.

"Of course.  He'll make a hundred," Vera said.

"So will you," Andrei told his sister. 

"Practice at four today, so bring your running stuff.  I'll be there by 3:45; spread the word to meet me for stretches.  We're going to run a four mile loop.  Tell everyone to be ready."

"Okay."

"Okay, Mama."

"I'm going to go on in," Meryl informed the family.  "You're local today?" She asked Maks.

"Yeah. Nothing to eat?"

"I'm not hungry right now; I'll grab something later if I feel like it."

"Four miles, Mama, you have to eat," Andrei told her.

"I'll eat, I'll eat, Papa Junior," Meryl teased him and then kissed the top of his head.  She walked around and patted Vera gently on the shoulder.  She didn't like to be touched in the morning.  She kissed Maks lightly on the mouth.

"Feel better," he said softly.  "Call me later."

"Okay.  Everyone have a great day, do well on your test, I'll see you at 3:45."  She grabbed her bag and left through the back, sucking in air to avoid throwing up her tea into the bushes.

She didn't really have to wrack her brain to figure out how this had happened.  After the twins were born, she'd had a copper IUD for a few months, but it made her periods, which had always been problematic, unbearably heavy and painful.  She had sworn off hormonal birth control before they had conceived the twins.  Neither she nor Maks wanted to do anything permanent, for reasons she didn't fully understand.  That had left her with a diaphragm that she used religiously for years.  She had never even had a scare. 

The family had spent a week in Michigan at the beginning of the summer, and she had used it every time.  Then they had left for Rome, where they rented an apartment for the rest of the summer.  Meryl studied and taught a three week seminar at a university.  She had taught the whole thing in Italian--a dream come true.  The family had taken weekend trips almost every week, to the shore, to the country side, up north to the mountains. It had been the best summer since...that other European summer.  And, of course, that's exactly what had gotten her in trouble. She chuckled under her breath.  Being in trouble...it was all so _Dirty Dancing_. Of course she wasn't a twenty-something dancer.  She was a supposedly perimenopausal mother of two twelve year olds.

The twins had made friends with the kids of one of her colleagues in Rome.  They had been invited to go on a mini-holiday with the family, giving Meryl and Maks some alone time in the city.  They had gone to dinner and then to see some live music and had danced slowly.  Meryl had just finished her period and was horny.  Maks was rock-hard against her belly.  She wanted to take him right there on the dance floor. They took a cab home, and she sat on his lap, rubbing her ass into him, as he fingered her under her skirt.  It was all very dignified, of course.

Their apartment was on the second floor, and he picked her up, halfway up the stairs and smashed his mouth into hers, boring her back into the wall.  She reached down and grabbed his cock, and they almost went at it right there, but he carried her the rest of the way into the apartment where he ripped her underwear down and rammed himself into her with his pants still mostly on.  She pulled his shirt over his head, wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as he thrust into her.  She pushed him back and got off, falling to her knees and taking him into her mouth as his pants fell down.  She wanted him to come in her mouth and then go down on her--that was her thought as he lifted her up by the shoulders and brought her to her feet.  He gently removed her dress.

"I love you, Meryl."  He took her into his arms and carried her to bed.  And see, this was partially his fault because if he had just let her finish blowing him right there, none of this would be happening.  But no, he had to be all greatest ever love story romance novel bullshit.  Meryl had reached the building where her office was.  She passed a colleague on the stairs.  It was William Howard, who was very distinguished and almost eighty years old.  She blushed crimson about what was going on in her head.

"Good morning, Meryl."

"Good morning, Professor."  No way she was calling him Bill.

She reached her office and collapsed on the little love seat in the corner and resumed the play by play.  Maks had carried her to the bed and kissed her passionately but sweetly.  He looked into her eyes and made love to her, making her come with his fingers and then calling out her name lovingly as he came squarely inside her.  They had fallen asleep in each other's arms and had slept well into the morning without children to wake them up.  They made plans to walk to the shops and have breakfast, and she darted into the bathroom to pee and remove the diaphragm before their for old times sake joint shower.  Except the damn thing wasn't in there.  She hadn't put it in.  She remembered thinking about about it fleetingly the day before, but she had just finished her period, after all, and it's not like she was likely to get pregnant at her age and considering how long it had taken them to conceive the twins.  She hadn't given it a moment's thought after that.  There in the bathroom, she considered for just a second that maybe she should go to the pharmacy and try to get her hands on some Plan B, or whatever it was called.  But this was a Catholic country, and she had no idea if it was even available.  Besides, the chances were so slim.  And that was the last she even thought about it until this morning.

"Fuck!" She said out loud.  She could just make this all go away.  She could not tell a soul and just get it taken care of.  No one would ever know. She couldn't go to her regular doctor, who was a casual friend and the mother a school mate of the twins, but she was sure she wouldn't have trouble finding someone who would see her. She felt another flush of relief. But it would be the worst thing she had ever done.  Not the abortion--she was passionately pro-choice--but the lying.  The lying to Maks, who had loved her literally since the day they met. It would be the worst thing she could ever do.  It was part of him, too, and as much as she believed in body autonomy, she couldn't deny him the right to be in on the decision.  She sighed heavily and reached for her phone.

 **Meryl Davis** :  I'm having a crisis. Is there anyway you can see me early this afternoon?

 **Jessa Henderson** : Hey, Meryl.  Let me check.  I'm not at the hospital today, so that is hopeful. I'll call you in just a few minutes.

Meryl put the phone down and closed her eyes, trying not to cry.  She couldn't help but think about that whole first year when she hardly slept.  The ear infections. Day care.  Potty training.  First every thing.  As much as she loved the kids, every year of their lives had been easier than the last, and she had really only started enjoying the whole thing when they could talk.  The thought of starting over when she was making progress in her career and looking forward to the kids being in high school in two years... Her thoughts were interrupted by the phone.

"Jessa, thanks for calling me.  Sorry to throw off your day."

"Oh, it's fine, Meryl.  I can squeeze you in at noon if you can be here." Meryl suspected Jessa was giving up her lunch for this and felt instantly guilty.  "What's going on?"

"I think I might be pregnant. I just figured it out; I haven't taken a test or anything, but I feel like I did with the twins, and...there was an incident a few weeks ago."

"Oh you poor thing," Jessa said sympathetically.  "Yes, come in.  We can put your mind at ease, and we can discuss options if necessary.  Will Maks come in with you?"

"I haven't told him yet, but, yes, I will probably bring him.  Thank you, Jessa." Meryl was trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

"Oh, sweetie, it's okay." Jessa obviously knew.  "I'll see you at noon."

Meryl put the phone down and genuinely sobbed for a few minutes.  She scolded herself and took tissues to her face to repair the damage.  She tried to work.  She ended up Googling late maternal age pregnancy. Half way through an article on birth defects, she closed the laptop.  It was 11:00.  She walked home to get the car and drove to the studio.  The samba music was loud as soon as she walked into the lobby. The receptionist wouldn't be there until the afternoon when the school kids came in for their lessons.  Maks worked with his pro couples during the day.  The bass was very heavy and made her feel more queasy.  Maks didn't see her right off, and she watched him dance with Rodrigo, as his partner Sophie looked on.  It reminded Meryl of Maks dancing with Charlie, and she couldn't help smiling. 

"Babe!"  Maks broke hold and went over to turn the music down. "How are you, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, are you going to take a lunch?"

Maks looked at Rodrigo and Sophie, who seemed fine with a break.

"Sure!  This is a nice surprise!"

Oh, you don't even know, buddy.

He took hugged her and shook her in his arms a little bit like they hadn't seen each other in a few days.  He took off his black undershirt and put on a button-down.  "Be back by..." he looked at Meryl.

"One."

"One. And be ready to work, okay?"  They walked out of the studio and got into the SUV Meryl was driving today because of cross country practice.  She had a big, orange water cooler in the back with ice water and little paper cups for practice.  Good ol' Coach Davis.  Always prepared for everything. 

"You drive." She said.

"Sure.  Where do you want to go?"

"Maks."  She just looked at him.  He turned to her because of her tone and looked at her, too.

"What is it, Babe? What's wrong?"

It all came tumbling out.  "I think I'm pregnant.  I haven't taken a test, but I feel exactly the way I did the last time.  I had a period, but it was hardly anything.  I called Dr. Henderson, and she can see us right now. I'm sorry; it's my fault."

"Whoa."  He looked shocked.  "Wait, what?  How?"

"Rome.  That time in Rome.  When the kids were with the Serranos. I didn't have the diaphragm in."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think it was possible, right?"  She looked at him pitifully.  "I only put it all together this morning."

"Oh, Babe." He hugged her.  "It's going to be okay."  But he didn't look okay.  She had honestly expected him to be thrilled, to be the one to cheer-lead her through this.

"Maybe I should drive?" She said quietly.

"Maybe so."

They got out and switched places. She thought maybe he would grab her and tell her he was so happy, but they just passed each other and got in on the other side.  She started the car and turned off NPR as soon as it came on.  They drove to the medical building in silence.  He took her hand on the way in, though.  Thank goodness.

She checked in and was sent back immediately to get weighed and pee in the cup, get some blood taken. Wow, she had not missed that.  The nurse put them in a room, and told Meryl to take everything off and put on the lovely gowns. They sat in silence, but Maks sat close and was rubbing her leg.  She was about to cry again when Jessa walked in.

"Hey, you guys." Jessa sat in the chair and looked at them.  "You're definitely pregnant," she said with a sympathetic look.  Maks sighed and looked like he might pass out.  "You have beaten the odds, for sure, but many, many people have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies at your age, Meryl.  Since your last period was a bit iffy, I'm going to go ahead and do an ultrasound.  You might be too early to hear a heartbeat anyway.  The period you're sure about started..." she looked at her tablet,  "August 18.  And conception could have been...?"

Meryl looked at her phone. "August 24."

"How long usually are your cycles?"

"24 to 26 days."

"That would do it," Jessa looked at her kindly.  "That would give you a due date of May 25."

Meryl and Maks both reacted audibly, though wordlessly.  "The twins were born on the 24th," Meryl said quietly.

"They were fairly significantly premature?" Jessa asked them.

"Nine weeks."

"Well, if this is a singleton pregnancy, and it most likely is, you have a much better chance to carry to term."

 Meryl was grateful Jessa hadn't gone for the easy _so, you two like having sex in august joke and_ thought that at least she could go through it with a nice doctor this time.  "Okay, do you remember the joys of the internal ultra-sound?" Jessa asked her.

"Yes." Meryl sighed.

"Sorry," Jessa said as she slipped the probe in.  The image popped up immediately.

"I would say eleven weeks." Jessa had a very professional, neutral tone.

Meryl lay back and let the tears fall down her cheeks. But Maks grabbed her hand.  "Look, Baby," he said to her quietly.  Meryl sat up a bit and looked at the monitor.

"Just one this time," Jessa said. "Would you like me to print this out?"

"Yes," Maks said. 

Jessa removed the probe and handed the image over. Maks looked at it as Jessa went over the early pregnancy information.

"We have practice this afternoon," Meryl said.

"Running is great.  It will probably make you feel better.  And Joseph will be heart-broken if you're not there.  It's Coach Davis this and Coach Davis that at our house.  When did you start feeling better last time?"

"About sixteen weeks." Meryl said flatly. 

"Then you're almost there.  You probably felt worse last time because of the twin pregnancy." She sat and looked at them.  "We can discuss options.  I'm not going to get all Catholic school on you, if that's what you're worried about.  It's all on the table. We can talk termination, we can talk adoption..."

Maks sighed again.  "No," he said quietly.  "I can't."

"I know, Baby." Meryl said.

"Listen, I know that you're aware that this is going to be higher risk.  We're going to have a big, scary ultrasound in a few weeks, and you know that your age makes things more complicated.  But I will be with you through it all, okay?"  Jessa looked at her. They had been friendly acquaintances for years, and Meryl felt them truly becoming friends just then.  Jessa came over beside her and put her arms around her.  "I'm going to make you an appointment to come back in four weeks.  We'll do the ultrasound and decide then if we want to do an amnio.  I don't want to get your hopes up too high, but everything looks great for today, okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

"I'm going to leave you alone.  You can have the room for as long as you need it.  I'll see you at the meet Saturday.  I'm supposed to bring the bananas."  Jessa hugged her quickly again and left.

Meryl got off the table and started putting on her clothes.  She and Maks stopped by the business office to pay the maternity deposit and get the insurance squared away.  Maks did all of it thoroughly without joy.

On the way back to the studio, Meryl thought that perhaps her first thought had been the right one.  Maybe she should have never told him, gone straight in, had the abortion, and spared him all of this.  She never could have guessed it, but perhaps it would have been the right thing to do.  She would have felt guilty forever, but he wouldn't have to go through this.

She pulled into the studio parking lot and he sat there with his head in one hand, making no move to get out even though it was past one.

"Maks."

"I'm too old."

"You're not."

"I am.  Mama and Papa are finally retiring and relaxing..."

"Come on, they will be thrilled.  You know it."

"Your parents really are old."  

It was true, but it stung.  He looked at her.  "I'm sorry, Babe."

"I know, you're right.  But they will be thrilled, too, and while they won't be able to be the kind of grandparents they are for Andrei and Vera, they will still be there."

He was rubbing his hand on his temple.  He was just starting to grey there and it made him look ridiculously handsome.  In spite of the surreal situation they found themselves in, in spite of the fact that she didn't feel well, in spite of the fact it was broad daylight in front of the studio, she could easily straddle him right here.  He must have read her mind.

"This is my fault," he said.  A tiny smile crossed his face for the first time in two hours.  He remembered that night.

"If you had just let me..."

"Yes," he looked at her with that classic sheepish Maks look.  

"It's my fault about the diaphragm."

"That's true." He was still smiling.  "How are we going to tell the kids?"

"Andrei will treat it like a science experiment; Vera..."

"Her life will be over!  How can you do this to me?!?" Maks had his pre-teen daughter voice down impressively well.

"We'll take them to Friendly's on Saturday after the meet and get them in a nice post-ice cream haze."

"That's a good plan.  Wait to tell everyone else until after the scary ultrasound?"

"Absolutely."  She took him in her arms.  "I love you so much, Baby."

"I love you, too, Meryl.  I love this little one, too, already.  Goddammit." 

Meryl couldn't go quite that far, not yet,  but she loved her family with all her heart.  And this man...she loved him more than anything.  "Go teach those kids." She shoved him out of the car and waited until he was inside to cry again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this, I assumed that Maks would be thrilled right off. His reaction, though, poured out. It was weird.


	20. Chapter 20

_More and more frequently, Charlie couldn't sleep.  The stress of his job was unreal; every time things started looking up for Detroit there would be a corruption scandal or an awful crime spree or some other clusterfuck he never could have predicted.  He would lie in bed next to his beautiful wife and not be able to shut his thoughts down. What could he have done?_ _What could he do now?_ _It would bring back memories from that other ultra-stressful time in his life. He would stew about it. About her. What she had said, and then what had happened.  What if?_ _What if she had gotten Derek as her partner? What if she had gotten Val?_

_Really? Really, White? Your city is burning, and you're rehashing Dancing with the fucking Stars? She's not thinking about any of this.  He would wrap his arms around his wife and will himself to think about the lake on the best summer day or hiking with his family, and he would finally drift off._

 

October 2025

 

"I want to go, too!" Vera wailed.

They were finishing up dinner on a Thursday night.  Meryl was headed to Michigan in the morning for a weekend training with Charlie and Marina for another Olympic year show.  This time, Marina had choreographed something for them. All Meryl had to do was show up in reasonably good shape.  She had been skating several times a week in anticipation.

"You can't go, Girlie. You have to go to the pumpkin patch tomorrow, remember?  Papa is driving.  Mrs. Flannery will be heart-broken if you're not there and Papa isn't driving." Meryl looked at her husband teasingly. 

"I'll go to the pumpkin patch next week, and Michigan this week.  I want to see Grammy and Pop!"

"Grammy and Pop are in Colorado with Uncle Clay and Aunt Kate and the baby.  I won't even see them this weekend.  And I'm going to be at the rink the whole time, anyway.  You would be so bored.  You stay here and take care of Andrei and Papa, and go to the pumpkin patch, and then we'll all go to Michigan in November.  Aunt Tanith will have had their baby by then, too."

"We should have a baby," Vera said as if she were asking for a puppy.

"We are the baby!" Andrei answered.

"I'm not a baby!" Vera was indignant.

"No, Mama and Papa had their two babies at once, it's us," Andrei told her patiently.

"But Uncle Charlie and Aunt Tanith already have their two babies, Chase and Jacqsy, and they get another baby!"

"We have quite enough babies, sank you very much." Maks swooped one under each arm and took the squealing twins upstairs to the bath. Meryl cleaned the kitchen quickly and then raced upstairs to set out jammies and help Maks finish the bed routines. 

"I'm leaving soooooo early tomorrow, you will be asleep," she whispered after teeth were brushed and a chapter of _Percy Jackson_ was read.  "I love you, my sweet Andrei Paul," she kissed her son and he hugged her close.  "I love you, sweet girlie Vera Cheryl," she kissed her daughter, who was already asleep. Meryl left the room quietly, trying not to cry. 

"They will be fine," Maks told her as she collapsed dramatically on the bed.

"I know, I know.  I just wish I didn't have to go.  I want to go to the pumpkin patch instead."

"And then how would I seduce Mrs. Flannery?" Maks got in bed beside her and ran his hand deliciously down her side.

"You have a point."

"No kissing Charlie, by the way."

"Really?"

"Yes.  Even if he does this," Maks grabbed her ass.

"What if he does this?" Meryl flipped her husband over on his back and straddled him.

"Sorry, Babe, Meryl and Charlie is too weird for me." Maks laughed and Meryl climbed off. "Hey, I didn't say get off of me.  How about Charlie and Sharna?"

"That's pretty weird, too, Maks.  And I would still be fucking Charlie."

"Not if I'm Sharna." Maks got up and smacked his thighs, stuck out his ass and looked at her suggestively.

"I thought that was sassy Meryl!"

"Oh, yeah." Maks got back in bed propped on one elbow and held her tight in the other arm. "I liked your first thought.  Just don't go."

"I have to go."  She kissed him and pulled him on top of her.  "I love you."

"I love you more."

 

Charlie was waiting for her at the Detroit airport. 

"Short hair!" she said as they hugged.

"Yeah, it's really tense at work at the moment.  Not the right time for hair frivolity.  Ha, ha, ha!" Meryl put her arm through his and let his laugh fill her with warmth.  Home.

They threw her bag in the back of his SUV and headed to Canton.

"When was the last time you saw Marina?"

"Oh, I see her all the time. Tanith is working with a student at Arctic Edge.  I didn't tell you that?"

"I don't think so.  That's great though.  Is she planning on..."

"Working up to the first contraction, yeah.  This girl, Lily, has an outside chance of making the team."

"Oh, wow!"

"Tanith did all of her choreography."

"And everything is going well with the baby...Philip?"

"Philip Andrew, everything looks great."

"So exciting."

"Yep."

They chatted about their families for the rest of the trip. Just as they were parking at the rink, Maks texted her a picture of them at the pumpkin patch and her heart beat a little bit faster.  Maks had done an admirable job with Vera's wild curls, tamed into a ponytail with a ribbon. 

"Andrei looks more like you all the time," Charlie commented.

Meryl steeled herself to walk into the rink, but Marina was all smiles and hugs.  She had created a romantic program for them that reminded Meryl a lot of the Rachmaninoff exhibition.  The classical music was similar. 

"She totally choreographed this for Tessa and Scott," Meryl told Charlie as they were skating towards the boards for a break after practicing skating in hold while gazing lovingly into each other's eyes for several hours.

"Ha, ha, ha! Probably.  I know she's reached out to them several times, but they still haven't really responded.  Scott sends a polite for him message, and Tessa just ignores it.  I think it's pretty devastating for Marina."

"Well, by gosh, we better skate out little romantic hearts out, then."

They put in the rest of the day of training and then met Tanith and the kids at Jacqui and Big Charlie's house for dinner.  Meryl was staying there for the weekend since her parents were out of town.  Tanith looked gorgeous, as always, although clearly she was going to give birth in the very near future.  They left right after dinner to put the kids to bed.  Meryl chatted with Charlie's folks for a short while and helped them with the dishes, and then begged off to bed early herself.

"Are you and Mrs. Flannery running off together?"

"No, she has to stay and teach the second grade, alas.  Are you leaving me for Charlie?"

"I have been acting out an epic love story with him all day.  I guess I'll have to see how things develop tomorrow.  Are the littles already in bed?"

"Yes, we'll call you on the way to Fort Lee in the morning.  Will Marina yell at you for taking a personal call?"

"Probably, but she can bite my ass."

"I want to bite your ass."

 

Charlie picked her up in the morning, and she got the anticipated call on the way to the rink.  The family was surviving without her, happily on the way to their grandparents' house.  Meryl was glad she was spending the day with Charlie and Marina instead of with her in-laws, which made her feel guilty. 

They worked all day, didn't even stop for lunch, and then worked into the early evening.  Tanith texted that she and the kids were exhausted and weren't coming for dinner that night. 

"You can just drop me off," Meryl told him, but he insisted on staying.  They stopped off for a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine on the way.  It was a beautiful fall Michigan night, and they ate on the back deck.  Meryl and Charlie poured themselves another drink after his parents went inside.

"So, what's your work stuff?  Anything you want to talk about?" Meryl asked him.

"No, it's all just a huge mess.  Nothing ever gets any better."

"That must be frustrating."

"Yeah." He finished his beer and opened another. "Nothing we can solve tonight."

"No, I know," she said sympathetically. 

"How's Rutgers?"

"Great.  Good classes, interesting projects.  Probably going to Italy soon.  I'm working on a book."

"Wow, Meryl."

"It's not as exciting as it sounds, I guess, but, yeah, it's all going well.  Nothing I do is on the level of trying to save Detroit, Chuck." She patted his arm affectionately, and he looked at her and then looked away.  "What, Charlie?"

"No, nothing."

She leaned back and looked off into the White's beautiful backyard.  Their dog, Gus, was lying at her feet and she had been petting him since she sat down. Their own Charlie at home had probably made the trip to Baba and Deda's.  He and the kids were probably sleeping sounding in the car as Maks drove them back home.  She pictured herself in the front seat listening to go to sleep music and laughing quietly with Maks about what Deda had said this time.

"I mean, Meryl..."

"What?" Meryl said, her thoughts still miles away.

"Do you ever..." She didn't say anything.  She had no idea where he was going and she was only about a quarter engaged any way. "I know you don't." He said, and there was an edge to his voice that snapped her back into the present.

"What?" she said directly.

"Okay, fine.  I'm just going to say it."  He drained another beer.  Meryl looked at the growing pile of bottles and realized he'd had quite a bit. She just looked at him, still unclear. "Do you remember that day before Nationals when you told me to go be happy with Tanith?"

A thousand thoughts flooded Meryl's head.  She wasn't even sure at first which year he was talking about, and then she remembered that lunch in the pub that snowy day.  "Yeah?"

"That's funny when you think about it."

"What's funny?" She was instantly wary, and her impulse was to say good night, escape to her room and call her husband.

"You know, you were all like, 'I'm not even close to being in the place that you and Tanith are in.  I won't be there for years.  I just want to have affairs and go to Europe.'"

"Is that what I said?" She tried to diffuse the tension but keeping a super-light tone.

Charlie laughed without affection. "Yeah.  That was pretty much it.  But then...what...a few months later you were in love, right? I mean not right off."

Meryl looked at him with a flat expression.  He hit the side of the deck with his beer bottle, making Meryl jump and Gus bark out loudly.  "Fuck!" Charlie said and shook his hand.

"Well, good night, Charlie," Meryl gathered her glass and phone.

"No, not right off.  He fell in love at first sight, though, didn't he? Didn't he?" He wasn't yelling, but his voice was loud enough that Meryl was concerned his parents would come out and see what was going on.

"Hush, Charlie, it's okay.  I'm going inside now."

"Poor Maks.  There he was following you around like some pathetic...and all you wanted was a good fuck, right?  Am I right, Meryl? That's all you wanted."  He laughed. 

She turned and looked him dead in the eye. "I love you, Charlie.  I'm going to bed.  You need to sleep on the couch, come on."

"Don't touch me," he said sadly.

"Okay, good night."

Meryl brought Gus in.  Jacqui was still up, on her laptop at the kitchen table.

"He can't drive home," Meryl told her.

"I'm worried about him.  He's been so stressed lately."

"He doesn't want to see me right now, but maybe you can get him on the couch."

"Okay, Meryl, thank you."  Jacqui hugged her.  "Miss you, love you."

"You, too."  Meryl quietly went up to bed.

"Tell me how normal your day was."

"Our day was so normal.  Mama made too much food.  Papa yelled at me three times.  Val and Anna and the kids came over. Your day was not normal?"

"My day I will tell you about later.  I'll be home in twenty hours, Baby."

"I love you, Babe."

"I love you more."

 

Charlie was devastated the next day.  She told him there was nothing to forgive.  They skated for two hours, and then he dropped her off at the airport.

"Can't wait to meet Philip."

"See you next month.  Love you, Meryl.  I'm so sorry."

"Love you, Charlie."

 

They were waiting for her at the airport.  She managed to get all three in her arms at once.


	21. Chapter 21

**The New York Times**

May 6, 2122

Leo Davis Chmerkovskiy, dancer, choreographer, artistic director of the American Ballet Theater for forty-seven years, and civil rights activist in Russia, died at home after a short illness Tuesday.  He would have been 92 on the twenty-fifth of this month.  His niece, Meryl Chmerkovskiy Evans, said this morning that Mr. Chmerkovskiy was surrounded by family and friends at his death.

Mr. Chmerkovskiy was preceded in death by his husband, parents and siblings. He was married for fifty-five years to Aleksandr Federov, an architect from Moscow and founder of the Federov Group of New York. Mr. Chmerkovskiy’s father was ballroom dancer and television personality Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who emigrated from Ukraine with his family at age 14.  His mother was ice dancer and professor of English Meryl Davis, who with her partner, Charlie White, won the silver medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and the gold medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.  Chmerkovskiy and Davis met when after Ms. Davis’s Olympic win, they were paired on _Dancing with the Stars_ , a popular television program.  The couple had twins, Vera Cheryl and Andrei Paul, who were exactly thirteen years older than their brother.

At the age of three, Mr. Chmerkovskiy began ballroom dancing and showed an aptitude by winning many titles in his age group.  When he was seven, he added ballet training, initially to bolster his ballroom dancing, but very early on realized that ballet was his primary interest.  He started dancing with the American Repertory Ballet in Princeton, New Jersey when he was ten.  He grew up in near-by New Brunswick, where his mother was on the faculty at Rutgers. 

After graduating from Morris Catholic High School, Mr. Chmerkovskiy was selected to study at the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, where he remained as dancer and choreographer until he was named creative director of the American Ballet Theater in 2075.

He split his time between Moscow and New York during his Bolshoi years, and he and Mr. Federov were married in New York in 2064.  When they moved back to Moscow, they lived as spouses during a time when it was illegal to do so in Russia.  For a while, the authorities ignored the couple, but after an expose was written in the Russian newspaper _Izvestia,_ Chmerkovskiy and Federov  were told they had to live apart or risk arrest.  Mr. Chmerkovskiy publicly denounced the law and refused to comply with it.  He and Mr. Federov were arrested in October 2065 and held for six months, during which time there were protests all over Russia demanding they be freed.  The international community including the Freeman administration in Washington put pressure on Moscow to release them and change the law. The two were released and restrictions loosened although same sex marriage is still not legal in Russia.  In a 2073 interview for this publication, Mr. Chmerkovskiy spoke about this time.

"Sasha [Mr. Federov] and I decided that we weren't going to hide, and we weren't going to give up our lives in Moscow out of fear.  We  both had job offers in New York, and it certainly would have been easier just to leave. But we had too many friends in the same situation we were in.  I'm not and have never been famous, but I knew that I was well enough known that they couldn't get away with anything but treating me according to official policy for my incarceration.  I felt like I was in a unique position to be the face of this wide-spread discrimination in Russia.

My parents moved to Moscow while we were in jail and attended every hearing.  My brother took a sabbatical from Stanford where he is a professor and lived with them in Moscow.  My sister quit her law firm and lobbied for us full time in Washington. My father, who was eighty-five at the time, told me he had never been prouder of me, but it was they who were the heroes.

My father brought us up with the idea of family before everything.  Our family included a huge network of people who supported us above all else.  I was in my late teens before I figured out that half of the people I called aunts, uncles and cousins were actually dancing friends of my father's and skating friends of my mother's."

One such "family" member is Charles "Charlie" White IV, who is Mr. Chmerkovskiy's protege at ABT, and is the grandson of Mr. Chmerkovskiy's mother's skating partner.  He is expected to take over the helm at ABT, where he has been a choreographer for twenty years. He was by Mr. Chmerkovskiy's bedside Tuesday.

"Leo didn't tell us he was sick until he couldn't come to work any more. I guess I expected him to dance well into his 100s.  His ferocity, bravery and creativity have been my inspiration.  But on a personal level, he and Sasha were like uncles to me, and have been since I was a little boy.  Leo was the first person to encourage me to pursue ballet, and then we worked side by side for years.  I'm devastated."

Mr. Chmerkovskiy's most celebrated work at ABT was _Vmeste,_ which is a tribute to his parents' relationship.

"I got criticism for that because it was such a hetero-normative theme, and I was supposed to be Mr. Queer Crusader, I guess, but love is love, and I learned to love, I learned to be a husband, by having this marriage as an example.  They were the whole world for each other.  They died six weeks a part.  My mother had cancer--it was quite advanced by the time she was diagnosed--and my father never left her side.  He did everything for her.  After she died, he was finished with his life as well."

 _Vmeste_ tells their story from the time they met until their deaths.  Its iconic image is a male dancer bending over backwards with his female partner cradling his shoulders in her arms.  This pose was taken directly from a dance Mr. Chmerkovskiy's father choreographed for himself and Ms. Davis and is depicted in a large photograph prominently displayed in Mr. Chmerkovskiy's office at ABT.

Mr. White says that Mr. Chmerkovskiy's legacy at ABT will remain for the life of the company.

"People will be dancing his choreography, his work, for as long as this company remains.  Personally, his love, support and generosity with his talent has been his greatest gift to me.  Leo is immutable."

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smutty McSmut.

Late September 2014

Los Angeles

 

Meryl clicked her key into the hotel room door at 5:45.  He was trying to get here by 6:30.  Time enough for a quick shower.  She took off her travel clothes, put her underwear in the plastic laundry bag and folded her jeans and sweater, placing them back into the suitcase.  Her outfit for tonight was on top.  She tossed it on the bed, zipped up the bag and stowed it, carrying her toiletries into the bathroom. The hotel was nice enough--the best option close to the airport.  Assuming he got here when he said he would, they would have nine and a half hours until she had to get back on the shuttle for her six A.M. flight to Tokyo.

She tied her hair back and stepped into the shower, loving the hot water running down her front.  The hotel soap smelled nice, and she breathed in deep the misty, perfumed air.  She shaved her legs again even though they didn't really need it.  It was more of a sensual exercise.

She wrapped a towel around her and dried her face.  She reapplied light eye make-up--really just some black liner and mascara and  a hint of gold shadow.  She put on red lipstick; not her usual shade, but she was going for a look here.  She shook out her hair and brushed it smooth. The effort on her hair made the towel fall to the floor, and she let herself air dry as she gathered the ends of her hair into a band and then clipped under at her neck.  The effect made her look like she had a shoulder-length bob.  She tied a red ribbon around her head with a bow at the top.  Dry enough, she lightly applied lotion from her toes to her shoulders, lingering several places and shuddering slightly in anticipation. 

She walked back into the room towards her clothes on the bed.  She put on a tiny, black lace thong and a matching push-up bra.  Those leaked photos of Kate Upton had made her self-conscious once again that she wasn't Maks's usual type.  She hadn't actually seen the pictures, and she felt guilty about allowing them to make her feel insecure instead of just being sympathetic that Kate's privacy had been violated.  Her phone buzzed.

"Almost there," he was breathy and she could hear the traffic in the background.

"Can't wait."

"Love you."

"You, too."

She put on a full black skirt and tight black and white striped t-shirt.  It was different, and she probably wouldn't wear it out, but there was something about a full skirt that made her shiver.  It could be flounced up and would stay out of the way rather than her usual straight skirts bunching up around her waist. There was something romantic about a twirly skirt.  She put on some black pumps. In for a penny...

She sat in the straight-backed chair and went through her phone for fifteen minutes until she finally heard the sound of the soft knock. She strode to the door and let him in.

He took her in his arms, wrapping around her so tight she was pressed against his chest with hardly room to breathe. She forced her head up and kissed him, freeing her arms to place around his neck.

"Sorry I'm so gross.  Should I take a shower?" He was wearing his dance clothes, those silly dance pants and a white tank.

"No, you smell wonderful."  Meryl breathed in his scent: sweat for sure but soap and deodorant, too.  It took her right back to training, to last spring. 

"It's good crazy at the studio.  Busy.  Busier than we thought."

"That's great, Maks." He had been working non-stop at the new Sherman Oaks studio.  "Does Val know where you are?"

"He knows he'll see me tomorrow."

"I'll be back in eight days, I went ahead and booked the room for then."

"Can't stay for a couple days?"

"Have something in Michigan the next day."

He sighed.  It had been like this for the past several weeks.  He had been in Italy for a few days, and she had impulsively pondered cancelling everything and flying out, but she had a joint commitment with Charlie, and it wasn't her to let people down.  It had been the worst week, though, since the Hawaii trip and the engagement.  She had to stop checking Maks's social media because she ached with longing to be there with him.  He was booked in LA for the next few weeks, and she had event after event of her own.  But now...

She smacked him lightly on the chest.  "We are here.  We have this time."  She twirled toward the bed, letting the skirt fly around her and looked at him suggestively.  He kicked off his shoes, and she took his hand, leading him to the bed.  When they got to the edge, she crawled to the middle and looked back at him.  He lifted the skirt and took in breath sharply when he saw the thong.

"Babe..." He took her ass in his hands and kissed each cheek and then flipped her around so she was sitting on him, straddling him.  He lifted the the t-shirt off and chuckled at the bra.

She smacked him on the arm. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing, I love it." He kissed each breast over the padded lace and then removed it and tossed it aside.  "I just like it better without."  He took her whole left breast into his mouth and sucked the nipple hard.  She gasped and repositioned herself over his hardening cock.  She pulled his tank off and ran her hands down his chest, wrapping her legs tightly around him.  He pulled her close again and breathed into her ear.  "Missed you so much."

This was on the verge of getting too schmoopy.  There would be some (not enough) time for that, but it's not really what she wanted in that moment.  She flipped herself back around on her knees, one hand tugging on his waistband.  He got the message and yanked down his pants and rubbed her through the thong before removing it in one swoop.  He entered her from behind, reaching around to rub her with his left hand and taking a breast in his other.  She cried out as he fucked her. She bucked against him, and then teased him by slowing down.  They froze for a moment, taking in all the feelings.  She was so close already, but she wanted to make this last a few more minutes.  She started moving slowly again, and he teased her back by removing his hand and grabbing her firmly at her hips, ramming into her hard.  She whimpered, and he put the hand back, fucking them both over the edge together.

She collapsed on the bed, and he fell on top of her, the black fabric between them.

"Like the skirt," he gasped.

"Me, too."

He had brought a bottle of wine, and they drank it in the bathtub out of the hotel tumblers, caressing each other's legs. They chatted about the new studio and about her classes.  Charlie and Val.  The upcoming show in Japan.  They got out when they were pruny and ordered a steak, salad, fruit and two brownies from room service.  The hotel wasn't swanky enough to provide bathrobes, so they answered the door in boxers and t-shirts. After they finished eating, they got back in bed, Meryl draping herself on him with her head on his chest. It was after ten.

"You have to be exhausted," she told him.

"No."

"Come on, I can sleep on the plane, but you have to teach all day.  You should sleep."

"We have five and a half hours left.  I'll sleep tomorrow. And I know you will study more than sleep on that plane.  Come here."  He kissed her deeply, and she tried to stay in the moment and not think about having to say goodbye.  They made love slowly this time, and then they did drift off for a few hours until her phone buzzed at three. They took a long shower, and she pressed herself against him the whole time, storing the sensation, all the feelings to be called back for every lonely shower until they were here again.  They stayed there until the water ran cold.

She wrapped her hair into a bun and put on her travel outfit.

"Charlie meeting you at the airport?"

"No, he took a different flight.  I'll see him there."  She gathered her things with a purpose, trying not to think, not to dwell.

"Hey," he said softly, embracing her. 

"Hey," she whispered.  She kissed him tenderly and then squeezed him very tight.  "Next week."

"Next week."

She wheeled her bag through the door and to the elevator. _Don't cry, stupid baby_.  She bit her cheek as that ridiculous tear fell down it.


	23. Chapter 23

September 2014

**Meryl**

She went straight from class to the airport.  She could have skipped, but she and Charlie had a rare training session with Marina on Sunday, and she couldn't fly out until Monday anyway.  She raced through the airport cutting it close.  There was Charlie, fresh as a daisy, waiting for her in the boarding area.

"Ha, ha, ha!"

"Hey, I went to class.  When was the last time you were even on campus, not for football?"

"No comment. Ha!"

They sank down into first class seats.  Meryl tried to remember the last time she was next to Charlie on a plane. Late May? He held her arm as they took off. It was the first time she had flown with someone in a while, and she enjoyed the comfort.

"I have to fly to New York right after the show tonight, so I don't have a room.  Can I use yours to get ready?" She asked him.

"Of course," Charlie was engrossed in something on his iPad.  Meryl got out the reading for her medieval literature seminar.  It was really hard to concentrate at first, but she got into the groove, and soon they were landing. It was 2:30 in LA; they would be cutting it close.

There was a limo waiting for them and not so much traffic, thank goodness.  Charlie let her have the first shower, so she set up her hair stuff in the room.  She managed a quick, messy side bun and make-up and then got herself into the black leather bustier and white leather pencil skirt. High black sandals.  She checked her image as Charlie came in with a towel around his waist to grab his bag. He stopped for a moment and looked at her.

"Beautiful! Ha, ha, ha!"

"Good job, Chuck," Meryl laughed.  She was pleased with the look he gave her.  When the outfit came in a few days before, she had tried it on for Cheryl.

"Is it a bit much?"

"A bit, but in the best way.  It's perfect."  Gotta love Momma.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Charlie asked.

"Labor Day weekend.  Football weekend. And I'm leaving right after the show."

Charlie scooted into the bathroom but left the door ajar so they could talk.

"You know, absence and all that," he said.

"Yeah, we're good at absence. I'd like to try boring ol' seeing each other every day."

"You will."  Charlie and Tanith had been a apart for almost the whole first year of their relationship.

"I know."

"I'm actually looking forward to seeing him see you tonight.  Ha, ha!"

Meryl laughed.

Charlie came out ready to go.  She adjusted his tie.

"You look great!"  She said. They snapped a selfie in the room to send to Jacqui and Cheryl and left to get back into the limo.  Meryl's leg shook the whole time.

"My stomach is going crazy!" Charlie said as they approached the studio. "I feel like I'm right back in the insanity."

But Meryl had nothing but happy memories associated with this place.  A little bit of sadness that Charlie was eliminated before the finals, but otherwise, it was one of her all-time happiest places.  She didn't say that, though.  She just patted his leg.

 

**Maks**

 

He saw Charlie first.  Actually, no.  He saw Charlie full-out, and he saw one leg coming out of a white leather skirt into a black stiletto sandal.  His knee buckled, just a bit.  They weren't exactly in public, but there were several others mingling backstage. She turned at that moment and saw him, joy taking over her face.  There.  That was it, finally.  Home.

She strode over to him and fell into his chest.

"Wow," he whispered into her ear, and she stepped back so he could admire her.  He led her into a small room and closed the door.  She threw her arms around him and kissed him.  It took him an instant to catch up.  He took her face in his hands and backed off the kiss.  "Hey, Babe," he whispered.

"Hey," she said and pressed her whole body against him. "Do we have to go out there?"

"Yes, do you have to fly right after the show?"

"Yes, but I'll be back." She made no move to separate from him.

Soon they had to go be seated in the front row.  The show went by in a blur.  Val and his partner were great.  The rest, it was hard to focus.  He chatted with her and Charlie during the breaks.  He wished he could just sweep her away and stay hidden for a week. They did their post-show obligations.  He rode with her to the airport.

"How many hours?" He asked her.

"17 if all goes as planned. The time change works for us."

"My place, as soon as you get in."

"Yes."

"Love you."

"Love you." She kissed him before she got out of the limo.  She took his tongue in her mouth and sucked it for a good five seconds.  Then she slowly let it go and lightly bit his bottom lip while her hand was firmly planted on the bulge in his pants.  She removed the hand and patted him on the knee.  "Bye!"

"You are not nice."

"I am not nice." She smirked over her shoulder as she walked into the airport.

"17 hours."

She waved with one hand behind her.  In 17 hours he would make her pay.

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

September 2014

**Maks**

About 17 hours later, Maks's phone buzzed with the notification that Meryl's flight was beginning its descent.  He left the Sherman Oaks studio immediately and hopped in the car, praying that traffic would be light.  Tuesday morning luck, he made it in under thirty minutes.  He circled around, waiting for her to emerge.  He had hardly slept.  So unfair, getting to see her and spend time, but none alone.  He was taking her straight home and then planned to show up at the studio just a few minutes before the show started.  He was just making an appearance to support Val and his friends.  He wouldn't be on camera.  He wished he could just skip it, but he had results' night nerves for his brother. 

He had looped around the pick-up area twice when he saw her--from the back at first.  She was wearing the two-piece outfit he had seen on her at GMA that morning, and she still had on those shoes he hadn't stopped thinking about since he first saw them yesterday.  Her hair was down in long brown curls, and his stomach flipped.  Then she turned around.  She saw his car almost immediately and relief flooded her face.  Even from fifty yards away, Maks could tell she was wrecked.  Exhausted.  On her last legs.  He pulled up close and got out to get her small bag.  She grabbed him before she got in.

"Take me home," he could tell she was trying to muster allure, but his afternoon plans changed immediately.  She was done. He got her into the car and shut the door, scurrying around to his side.

"Babe, when was the last time you had a meal?"

"I ate on the plane."

"Oh, I'm sure you did.  I've seen you "eat" on planes."

"I grabbed a bagel from craft services at GMA."

"Which you ate how much of?  Sunday dinner, right? At your parents'--that was your last real meal."

Meryl was silent.

"That's what I thought."

"Do I look that bad?"

"You are beautiful.  But you need to eat and sleep."

"I slept on the plane!"

"Bullshit."

She sighed and acquiesced.  He could tell she was about to pass out in the front seat. They pulled in, in front of his apartment and made their way through the front door.  He led her straight to the kitchen and physically sat her down in a chair.  He got her some water first and then made her a turkey sandwich and cut up an apple.  There was some salad in the fridge, and he gave her some of that.  He pulled out leftover sauteed zucchini and tomato he had made from the night before and started eating it cold with a fork, straight from the container.

"That looks good," she told him.  He handed it over and pulled up a chair next to her.  She immediately put on leg on his lap.  he rubbed it and started unbuckling a high-heeled sandal.

"That's not how I pictured you taking those off," Meryl sad sadly.

"That's not how _I_ pictured taking them off, either."

"Sorry."

"It will wait.  I have you for two more days, Baby."

She had made a valiant effort on her lunch, but she was about to collapse on the plate.

He had put her suitcase in his room the night before, so she made her way back and changed into the shorts and t-shirt she typically slept in.  He brought the blanket around her and kissed her.

"I'll be back after the show," he whispered.  She was already drifting off.

He drove on to the TV studio.  Val was already there, nervous and keyed up. 

"Why aren't you with your girl?" Val was surprised to see him.

"She's passed out at home."

"Oh, man, sorry."

"It's fine."

Val laughed.  They played basketball with Serge and Henry, and then Val left to try to nap until his call. 

Val and Janel were safe, thank goodness.  Sharna and Tavis were safe.  Maks enveloped Sharna in a hug backstage.

"I'm going to take off--Meryl is at home," he told her, and Sharna squeezed him extra hard.

"Will you make it to the after party?"

"Probably.  Jenna I'm sure, has been in her ear about it."

"See you there, Love."

He drove back, looking forward to crawling in bed with her, taking her in his arms. He parked and jogged up to the door and then straight to his--candle lit?--room. There she was, on top of the now made bed, lying on her stomach with her chin propped up in her hands, her knees bent with ankles crossed, in a matching underwear set and those heels again.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She swung her legs around just as he had reached the bed.  He scooped her up under her shoulders and moved her to the head of the bed, holding himself on top of her. He kissed her, and she wrapped her legs around him, those heels boring deliciously into his back. She whispered something filthy in his ear, expressing her desire for a part of him to be in a part of her. In seconds, both sets of underwear were abandoned and he was inside her.  He paused for a moment and kissed her.  "I love you so much, Baby."

She was miraculously energized afterward and insisted they meet Jenna at the party.  He could hardly wait, though, to get back home.


	25. Chapter 25

December 2017

 

"We can just go home," Maks reached from the driver's seat to rub Meryl's leg.  She was eight weeks pregnant and starting to feel not so good.

"No, this was the part I was looking forward to." They were on the way to a bar to meet Meryl's office mates Edward and Chelsea for a holiday celebration.  They had all just been at the English department's Christmas party.  "And I have their gifts."  She put her hand on his. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Hey, the party was interesting."

Meryl laughed.  It had been a staid event at the beautiful home of one of the professors.  If nothing else, Meryl had gotten some decorating ideas, but the doctoral candidates had mostly just stayed in one corner trying not to spill punch on the furniture.

They pulled into the lot of the bar, a popular spot on campus, but mostly empty tonight as the majority of the students had already left for break.  Just through the doors, it smelled like beer, sweat and cigarettes, even though smoking in enclosed areas had been banned for years.  It was as if the Ghost of Christmas 2005 was skulking around with a pack of Marlboro Reds in one hand and a Zippo in the other.  Meryl's stomach lurched.

They were the first to arrive.  Edward was probably smoking somewhere and Chelsea texting her boyfriend.  She was flying back to Tupelo in the morning was was giddy about seeing him again.

"What would you like to drink?" Maks asked her.

"A regular Coke, I think." Meryl hadn't had a soda since she was about nine, but it was the only thing that sounded remotely good at the moment.

A fairly decent cover band was playing a passable version of The xx's _VCR_. Meryl found a round booth big enough for the group, and well, Edward, who was a big guy.  Maks came to the table with her Coke in one hand and a pitcher of beer in the other with a stack of glasses under one arm.  Just then, her friends arrived with their bundles of gifts.

"We barely survived that one," Edward said breathlessly.

"It wasn't that bad!" Meryl laughed.

"I saw Milgrew's wife double dip the _pâté_ , or whatever that was."

"No!"

"Yes."  Edward dramatically reenacted the egregious double-dipping as Maks poured the first round.

"Thank you, darling," Edward said to Maks as he got his beer.  "So here are these, I hope you don't hate them," Edward handed bags to all three at the table.  Chelsea, Meryl and Maks pulled out beautiful hand-made scarfs.  Edward wore one every day in crazy colors, but these were custom made for the recipients.  Chelsea, who had attended Ole Miss for her undergraduate degree and had an unending supply of Hotty Totty mugs, got blue and red stripes.  Meryl had ten different shades of pink that looked beautiful against her black coat, but Maks's was the masterpiece.  All steely, charcoal grey and and seemingly professionally knitted, Maks looked at it in awe.  They all three put them around their necks immediately and gushed at Edward's talent.  Maks leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. 

"It's beautiful, thank you."

"Oh, stop.  You're ruining my fantasy where you fuck me in the bathroom while whispering homophobic slurs in Russian in my ear."

Maks laughed.  "Sorry to disappoint you."

Meryl handed each a wrapped copy of a first edition book in each of their specialties.  Edward's was a Philip Larkin that was signed, and that Meryl had spent way too much on, but she couldn't resist.  Chelsea handed over a box of Meryl's favorite tea and Edward's favorite coffee. 

They toasted the holiday and the upcoming semester.  The band played some more danceable music, and they all headed to the dance floor.  Meryl swayed with Edward while Maks taught Chelsea a rudimentary foxtrot, and then Edward cut in and the two gentlemen danced.  Meryl finally got her husband back, and they slow-danced to Elvis Costello via the band, Meryl putting most of her weight on Maks.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm great." Their second wedding anniversary was in two weeks.  Meryl sighed into his chest and then rose on her tip-toes to kiss him.  He held her closer as they danced the rest of the song.

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

**October 2030**

**Thursday**

**Maks**

What set him off was this:  he came in the backdoor to the twins, homework detritus everywhere, eating peanut butter sandwiches and bananas and giant tumblers of water on the oak kitchen table without coasters.  They were in their running clothes, obviously home from cross country practice. Meryl was nowhere to be seen.

"Papa!"

"Papa!"

"Did you have a good day, Papa?"

"Did you tangoh?" Andrei said in a funny accent and threw his head back and Vera collapsed in giggles.

"No and no.  Why are you being so silly? Where's Mama?"

"Upstairs."

"In your room. Are you okay, Papa?"

"I'm fine, Vera.  Finish your homework and clean this up. Seriously, guys, we all have to live here.  Show a little respect."

"Sorrrrryyyyy." Vera's tone betrayed great offense taken.  Wonderful. She glared at him. Her father's daughter.

"We're sorry, Papa; we'll clean it all up." Andrei had jumped up and had picked up most of it already.  His mother's son.

He said nothing in fear of truly losing it and headed up the stairs.  Meryl, also in her running gear, was curled in a tiny ball on the bed with the light off.  Terrific.

"Still feeling awful?"

She flinched, startled.

"I'm okay.  It's nothing like last time."

"Then why are you in bed?" He was making every effort in his body to keep a neutral tone.  "The kids are downstairs destroying the kitchen."

She jumped up and headed down.

"No, they need to clean it up.  Stay here."

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Wait, Meryl, what's up? What's wrong with you?"

She looked at him incredulously and said nothing.

"Is this how it's going to be for the next six months?"

She looked at him and said in a leveled tone, "What can I do for you, Maks?"

"Is it really that bad? You could be a little bit happy that we're going to have another little one, instead of not paying any attention to the ones we already have?" He baited her, wanting her to yell at him.  She just looked at him.

"I don't know what you want me to say," she headed into the bathroom.

"Say anything!  Just stop moping, my god."

"It's been three days, Maks.  I'm still in shock, and I can't wrap my head around it.  I'm glad you're doing so well," the last part was full of sarcasm.

"What the fuck?"

"What?"

"Jesus, Meryl, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm doing the best I can.  You could be a little nice."

"God, I'm trying, but you're being a..."

"What?"

"Drama queen."

"Really? I'm fucking terrified, Maks.  I feel a constant sense of impending doom.  I feel like I've ruined our family.  I have no idea what to do. But you're being stellar, so thanks.  Now, may I please go take a shower and get out of these nasty clothes.  If it will make you feel better, you can come in too, and I'll try to suck your cock without gagging.  Will that help?"

"Meryl, what the hell?" He roared.  Lost it.

"I'll take that as a no," she shut the bathroom door and locked it behind her and he could hear her collapse in sobs.  Immediately, he wanted to break down the door and tell her he was sorry, and it would all be fine, but he had been telling her that all week, and it hadn't gotten through.  He was out of ideas.  He sighed and got out his phone.  This was probably the worst thing he'd done in his whole marriage.  He walked downstairs and headed to the back patio.  He could tell from the way Vera was sitting she was still in a snit.  Andrei apologized again.  Good lord.

He brushed the leaves off of the patio chair and sat.  Charlie loped over to him and put his head in Maks's lap.  Maks rubbed the fifteen year old dog's head and sighed deeply while he found the number and punched it.  Cheryl answered on the second ring.

"Maks?" She was surprised and vaguely concerned he was calling her, he could tell.

"Grammy, how are you?"

"I'm fine, is everything okay?"

"No.  I mean everyone is okay, but I need your help. I've totally stepped in it, and I need your help with Meryl."

"Really." She sounded disgusted.  "What did you do?" He tone spoke clearly to what she thought he had done.

"What? No, I didn't cheat on Meryl.  Why does everyone think that?"

"You should probably talk to your mother."

"Ugh, seriously, don't listen to that.  She has her own issues, and they are many. Anyway..."

"Sorry, Maks.  What's going on?"

"Meryl might not forgive me for telling you this, but I need your help.  Do you think you can come up here? Soon, like in the next few days."

"Maks, tell me what is going on!"

"Meryl is pregnant." He heard a gasp. "It's a shock, and she is so scared, I guess about whether the baby will be okay, and if the kids will be miserable, and if it will ruin her career, and the family, she said, which doesn't make any sense, but all I can say is the wrong things, and I was an asshole, and I need your help.  We need your help."

"Oh, Maks."  There was silence between them, and he didn't know what to say.  "What do you think about this? About the baby? Are you happy?"

"See, that's the thing.  Yes, I am.  But it was so shocking at first, and I didn't take the news well.  I think I ruined the whole thing, and put her in such a bad mindset."

"Okay, hold on.  Is she feeling okay? When is she due?"

"May.  It's not as bad as the twins.  Like I said, she's not going to be happy about me telling you, but I just..."

"It's okay, Maks.  It's going to be okay.  I'm pulling up flights right now." Maks could hear soft clacking. "There's an early one tomorrow, are you sure you want me to come?"

"Yes, please Momma." He didn't call her that often, but she was his best hope. She was the one person in the world who knew Meryl like he did, who was as devoted to her like he was.

"Oh, Maks," she said softly.  I'm sure it's going to be okay...hold on a minute, Meryl is calling me."

"Take it. Thank you, Momma."

"Okay, Maks, I'll text you later with my travel stuff."

 

**Meryl**

Cheryl picked up as it was going to voice mail.

"Meryl!"

"Momma," she tried not to sob.

"Sweetie, what is it?"

"I told Maks I wouldn't say anything until later, but I need your help."

"Of course."

"I'm pregnant."

"Oh, Meryl, that's wonderful!"

"No, it's not!"

"Meryl, breathe.  It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that.  Do you know how high the birth defect risk is to someone my age? Do you know how many families fall apart over things like this? I just had the best two years of my career, now what?"

"Meryl, please breathe.  Please try to calm down. I swear, it's going to be okay.  A baby is a blessing, and you and Maks can handle it.  The kids can handle it.  You can do this."

"I can't, Momma.  And we're supposed to tell the kids on Saturday, and I know they're going to be shocked."

"What if I came there? Could I help you?"

"Yes! Please will you do that?"

"Of course."

 

**Saturday**

The five of them sat in a large booth.  They'd had cheeseburgers and were following it up with large malts.  The meet had been a success; Our Lady of Lourdes had come in second over all.  Andrei was second on his team and seventh for the boys.  Vera was also team second and thirteenth for the girls.  Maks had stayed in the car because of his tendency to get over-excited during the races.  Both twins had ribbons and were thrilled that Grammy had been there to see them run.

Maks cleared his throat awkwardly.  "We have something we need to tell you," he said looking across at his children.  Vera snapped to attention in horror.

"Oh no," she said.

"What, sweet girl?" Meryl asked.

Vera looked devastated and about to cry.  "You're getting a divorce.  That's why Grammy is here."

"No!" All three adults said at once.

"No, baby, why would you think that?" Meryl reached across the table for Vera's hand.

"You've been fighting constantly the past week.  And something is wrong with you, Mama.  Are you sick?" She looked right at Meryl with tears streaming down her face. Andrei looked shocked and devastated.  Meryl's mama bear kicked in immediately.

"No! I'm fine, it's actually wonderful, really." Maks looked at her in shock and then realized what was up.  He felt stupid for not appealing to this side of her earlier. Meryl looked at him and smiled. "We're going to have a baby."

"Really?" Vera seemed thrilled.

"Wow," Andrei deadpanned.

"I've always wanted a baby!" Vera squealed. "Since I was little!"

Well, that was unexpected.  Meryl chose her words carefully. "We have to tell you that because I'm older than most pregnant people, there's a chance that the baby could have..."

"Challenges," Cheryl added.  "But most likely he or she will be fine.  And so lucky to have such great big brother and sister."

"We will help with challenges," Vera assured them.

"Yeah, we're good with challenges," Andrei backed up his sister.  Meryl's heart swelled. "When is the baby..." he searched for the right word.

"Due?  May.  Right around your birthday, but we'll try to have it on another day," Meryl assured them.

"No, she or he has to be born on our birthday!" Vera cried.  "We already share, we can share with the baby, too.  You and Papa share a birthday."

"Well, not technically..."

"Mama and Papa have a birthday, and all the kids have a birthday.  It makes perfect sense," Andrei added.

Maks looked at Meryl and took her hand under the table.  Both of their faces were glowing.  "We should have told them on Monday," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess so," Meryl scooted right next to him.  The twins were chattering on about names.  "No, we're not naming him or her Jersey, Vera. But we'll let you know what we come up with," Meryl laughed.

"But Jersey Chmerkovskiy sounds..."

"Ridiculous," Andrei asserted and blew a straw paper at his sister.

"You people don't know what's good," she pouted. 

Maks leaned in close.  "I'm so sorry, Meryl. I was awful to you."

"No, Baby, I was.  I'm sorry."  She tipped his chin and kissed him softly.

Vera made a noise of disgust and Andrei looked away.  The family soldiered on.

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

**October 2014**

**Meryl**

 

Meryl woke up in her own bed, but it took her a few moments to realize it.  That window, those curtains, that bureau--hers.  Not a hotel.  She clicked off her alarm and turned over, allowing herself two more minutes of half sleep before she grabbed her phone again.  She had forty-seven new texts.  All but three were from Maks.  She scanned for the highlights.  Most were variations of the theme: I'm drinking so much.  Really drinking.  So much drinking!  So drunk.

**Maks** :  I love you so much, Baby.

**Maks** :  I miss you, Babe. I wish you were here.

**Maks** :  Please fly here, right now!

Meryl smiled and pounded out:  _Water, ibuprofin, coffee_.  She found some cute drunk emojis, and then ended with _Love you!_

Maks was in New Jersey at the moment, and East Coast Maks tended to drink with much more abandon than the West Coast version.  Must have something do with the place where adolescence was spent.  Of course, Meryl had spent her adolescence right here, and Michigan didn't have the same effect on her.  They'd had much different childhoods.

She put the water on for tea and headed to the shower.  It was great to be in her own bathroom with all of her favorite products at her fingertips.  She wound her hair up on top of her head and let the water relax her for a few moments before she started in with the shower gel. She shaved her legs and everything else had needed quick maintenance.  She had a waxing appointment tomorrow, thank goodness, as it was a bit of a jungle down there at present.  Maks had pretended to find that very hot in their last meeting, bless him.

She toweled off and did quick hair and make-up.  She was meeting Charlie at Arctic Edge, so practice clothes for now and an outfit for this afternoon.  She was spending the rest of the day at Brooke's house with Brooke and baby Una.  Charlie's birthday party was that night, so she threw in one more outfit for that.

There was an Amazon package on her porch--all of her replacement textbooks, thank goodness.  Last weekend after spending a sleepless night with Maks in one of those airport hotels she was getting really familiar with, she had passed out on the plane.  She had awoken just in time to run for the next connection and had left her backpack on the plane.  It had been lost for good in spite of desperate calls to customer service.  She was now behind a week in her studying.  She was driving in to Ann Arbor tomorrow to talk to her adviser, but at least she now had books.

She tossed her bag in the back and pointed the Range Rover to Arctic Edge where she still had a premium parking space.  She was happy to see Charlie's truck already there.  She could feel the tension of the place as soon as she opened the doors, and it would be nice to cleave herself to Charlie and avoid having to make small talk.  All of Marina's teams were in the midst of the Grand Prix preparation, and it seemed to be going better for some than others.  Maia and Alex looked great.

   
Charlie was on the ice with them, so Meryl dropped her bag in her old locker and laced up her skates.

  
She skated up behind him and surprised him.  "Hey, birthday kid!"

"Hey, Merle!"

"You look good for 27."

"Aw, thanks. You look great for almost 28. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

She nudged him in the side and skated around, giving him time to finish up with the Shibs before he joined her.

"Where's Tanith?" She asked him.

"She's coming in later."

"Where's Fedor?"

"Why?  Do you want to see him?"  Charlie took her into Killian hold as they warmed up.

"No, I want to avoid him.  So awkward."

"He'll probably be there tonight."

"Really? Since when are you and Fedor buddies?"

"We're colleagues, I guess.  He's part of the scene here, Merle, ya know."  Charlie swooped her up into a curve lift and she arched her back with both arms up. She half-twisted in the dismount.

"Ugh."

Charlie laughed at her, and they changed the subject.  They ran through their current programs without music, and then Charlie skated over to cue up the songs for full run-throughs. Marina was also nowhere to be seen, which was fine with Meryl. Their programs weren't overly technical.  In fact, Meryl didn't think she'd done a full set of twizzles since the free dance in Sochi, and she was perfectly fine with that.  Dear Oleg was skating around and offered some help with a footwork section.  As Meryl and Charlie were finishing up, Meryl spotted Marina finally, having an intense conversation with Nikita and Victoria, one of the teams that emerged from the Ilinykh and Katsalapov ashes.  They were going to have a showdown in Moscow soon with both former partners.  She waved at Marina and headed to the locker room.

She stopped by a cafe on her way to Brooke's house and picked up lunch for the two of them.  Una was gorgeous of course, and Meryl put her food aside and held the baby. 

"Una," she whispered in the tiny ear.  "You are beautiful,"  she was rubbing the tiny back and feeling Una drift off.  "Do you want to get some sleep while I'm here to watch her?" Meryl asked her friend.

"No, I want to talk.  I want to hear all the details of this life you have."

"I've gotten stuck in two airports in the last...ten days or so.  I lost all of my school books.  I've eaten room service at least once a day, and I pretty much go from hotel, to ice venue to airport.  It's so glamorous."

"You might be leaving out the good parts."

"Yeah.  It's been fun to skate the new programs, and Charlie seems really happy."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean.  Tell me all about your new costumes," Brooke kicked Meryl lightly with her socked foot and rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Meryl said innocently.

"Maks, weirdo.  I assume you're meeting up with him here and there."

"Yes, there's that." Meryl smiles and blushed.

"That's what I want to hear about!"

"You _don't_ want details?"

"Dude. The last time I was naked in the same room as Kevin, I was pushing out a baby.  Yes, I want details."

"Oh....Um, it's been really great."

As if he could hear himself being talked about, Maks texted her just then.

_My head.  Oh my god, Babe._

**Meryl** :  That's the least surprising thing ever.  :p  Feel better soon.

"Wow, Meryl.  That's fascinating."

"I...you know me, I can't talk about this.  It's great.  It's incredible.  It's the best I've ever had by far.  I really miss him all the time.  It's kind of gross."

"Meryl,"  Brooke looked at her and shook her head.  "I would pin you down, but you have Una, and you're blushing spectacularly."

"I know!"

"I'm glad you're happy."

"I'm really happy, Brooke.  Are you happy?"

"I'm happy.  I'll be happier when I can sleep for more than two hours straight and I can throw back some wine with Kevin, but yes, it's pretty amazing around here."

"I can tell."

Meryl told her some of the non-salacious details of her relationship and about some of the plans they had made. Her phone dinged again, about half an hour after his last text.

_I miss you so much, Baby.  I love you._

**Meryl** :  Back attcha.

Meryl and Brooke chatted, and Meryl held Una the rest of the afternoon when she wasn't being fed.  Meryl was in awe of Brooke and what a baby expert she was already.   Meryl took a million pictures of Una and sadly handed her over when it was time to get ready for Charlie's party. 

"Do you want to go? You can bring Una.  I'll hold her if she gets fussy," Meryl implored her friend.

"No, I think I'll wait a few more months before I take her to a bar."

"Now see, that's good parenting."

"Love you," Brooke said as they hugged goodbye.  "Tell Maks to keep doing what he's doing."

"Oh my god.  Love you, too.  Tell Kevin I said hi."

She drove to the pub and remembered the lunch she and Charlie'd had there less than a year ago, which seemed impossible.  It was loud with Hockey blasting from the TVs and music in the background.  She added a card to the stack of gifts.  She had picked up an Amazon gift card at the grocery store.  Boring, but she knew he would use it. 

Fedor was the first person she saw, of course. She was kicking herself for not insisting that Maks fly over to be here with her.  He wouldn't have taken much persuading, she was sure.  He was teaching a masterclass, but that could have been rescheduled, and she wouldn't be here by herself trying to navigate this.  Marina was holding court in loud Russian--no thank you.  Charlie and Tanith were coupling it up in a smallish group of other couples.  Alex and Maia were nowhere to be seen.  There was one other person sitting at the bar by himself, at least for the moment.  She tried to turn to the couples--the best of bad options before he saw her.

"Meryl," he called.  Excellent.  She walked on over.  "What do you want?  Merlot?"

She was about to say Merlot, but now she wanted to order something else.  "I'll have an Absolut cranberry," she told the bartender.

"How are you?" she asked Fedor with a neutral tone.

"I'm alright."

"Classes?"

"Great.  I'll finish in May."

"Congratulations."

"You?" He asked.

"Hoping for August."

"Ow, wow, good for you."

"Thanks."

They sat in awkward silence until Fedor finally spoke up.  "You've had quite a year."

"Yes," she tried for a cheerful tone.

"Charlie's engaged..."

"Yes."  What the hell?

"That must have been hard for you," he looked at her with his steely blue eyes.

"Why are you being a dick?" She looked straight back at him.

"I'm not being a dick."

"You broke up with me, Fedor."

"Fuck you, Meryl."

"Excuse me?"

"Fuck. You.  Don't fucking lie.  Don't even."  His tone was measured.

"What is your problem?"

"Everyone knew you were in love with him.  Tessa and I used to laugh about it.  You don't want to know what Scott said," he chuckled.

Meryl was silent.

"Tanith who? Right?  For years.  The interviews, the longing looks.  I told Meryl I love her." he said in a tone mocking Charlie.  "Pathetic.  You were thrilled when I broke things off.  You held on to me to make sure you were mommy's favorite for those last two seasons, and then I got out of the way just in time, right?  Carry on with Charlie, and then fall head over heels for that big sexy Russian," he was mocking Brooke's voice.  "And everyone fell in love with the Meryl and Maks show, poor bastard.  Now now he'll get dragged around in the shadow of the guy he'll never measure up to, and who will never love you back. Cause he won't.  And you know that."

Meryl drained her drink.

"Fedor, great catching up with you.  Let's do this again soon," she put on her cheeriest voice and strode over to Charlie and Tanith.

"Happy birthday, Chuck.  I'm going up to Ann Arbor tomorrow, so I can't stay."

Tanith hugged her.  Charlie hugged her.  She managed to get out of the door.  It was 8:35.  She hoped his class was through.  She punched his number.

"Hulloh?"  His Russian accent was always more pronounced when he was home.  "Meeeruhl?"

"Hi, Baby."

"What's wrong?"

"I miss you.  I want you here right now.  I want to fly to New York."

"Do it."

"I can't."

"I know.  Four days, Babe."

"I know, four days.  I love you so much."

"I know you do.  I love you, too.  Do you want me to get on a plane?"

"No. Just talk to me until I go to sleep."

"Okay."

"I'm driving home."

"Okay."

 

**Maks**

Maks woke up at 2:00 P.M.  Splitting headache.  Don't throw up.  He reached for his phone.  Bracing himself for the stupid fucking dumbass drunk texts he had sent.  He smiled at Mery's response and followed her directions:  chugged down a big glass of water, made some coffee, swallowed six Advil.  He went back to bed until he felt human again, and then headed for the shower.

It had been interesting last night watching all the desperate men and women circling each other.  He remembered those days.  Now that he was not available, he had women coming out of the woodwork. He never remembered having so much interest swirling around him when he was single, but maybe it just seemed that way because now he couldn't act on any of these passes.  Not that he really wanted to although he was as horny as fuck, but what he wanted was her in the shower with him right now.  He took his rock hard cock in his hand.

The last time...the last time had been amazing.  It was about ten hours in an airport hotel in Chicago.  She had missed a waxing appointment and was embarrassed by her appearance there, but it had driven him wild.  He had come of age with 80s era Russian dirty magazines that were always in the dressing rooms of dance studios.  The women of his adulthood were almost always too bare for his liking, but it was such a loaded topic, he was happy when a situation like this presented itself and he could appreciate it openly.  Wax poetic about it.  Literally eat it up.

And he had.  All over her while fucking her with two fingers and listening to her moan louder and louder.  He stroked himself hard in the shower at the memory of her coming against his mouth, calling out "Fuck, Maks!"

She had flipped him over and fucked him slowly, languidly, tormentingly.  She had thrown her head back, and her hair fell in long brown curls over her breasts.  He took it all in, her riding him looking like some kind of sea nymph with dark hair swirling around his cock as she went up and down, slowly when he needed her to go fast.  Softly, when he needed her to go hard.  Torturing him in the best possible way.  Finally, he flipped her over and fucked her as hard as he wanted.  She begged him with her eyes to use his hand, but he paid her back by teasing her and rubbing her ass instead.  She put her own hand down there and made him come watching her pleasure herself while he fucked her.  Holy god, he came in the shower with that image in his head.

He dried off and texted her sweet lovies, somewhat embarrassed by himself.  He was twenty minutes late to the studio, and his father shot him the evil eye as he changed his shoes.  He made up for it by staying forty-five minutes after the class, dancing with anyone who wanted to, and giving the students his full attention.

He checked his phone to find fifteen pictures of Meryl and her friend's baby, which made him smile widely.  He begged off the gang for another night of drinking revelry, and picked up grilled chicken and salad takeout on the way home.  She called him as he was just sitting down to his dinner.  She sounded devastated.

"What happened, Babe?"

"Just mean people.  It doesn't matter."

"Who was mean to you?"

"Ugh, it's so stupid, Maks.  No one who matters.  Let's just forget about it.  Let's not talk about it, okay."

"Okay, Babe.  Are you home now?"

"Yeah, I'm pulling in."

"Are you going right to bed?"

"Yeah, I'm really tired, and I'm going to study a lot tomorrow.  My books came in."

"Oh, good.  I'm really tired, too."  Not exactly.  He would probably be up late tonight because of sleeping in.  "Actually, I slept until 2:00 today."

"Lucky."

"Yeah.  I went to bed at 5:30."

"Not going out tonight?"

"Nah, just going to talk to you and then probably watch a movie."

"That sounds great."

"Wish you were here."

"Me, too.  I'm going to go to sleep now.  Love you.  Four days."

"Love you, too.  Four days."

 


End file.
